Chicken Scratch

pix for grandma

2010-04-06T19:35:00.003-05:00

no text right now, just eye candy.

what 2.5 looks like

2009-10-09T08:35:00.004-05:00

bug is officially 2 and a half years old and the fun keeps rolling.

she is not manifesting the terrible twos-at least they're not any more terrible than her ones.

her speech is developing so rapidly, it's hard to keep up. she is very much like her sister in that if you challenge her verbally, she will clam up and begin to stew, but if you let her start on her own, she may well never stop talking. during a recent car trip, i thought i was going to go crazy listening to her. it was very late and she was obviously overtired. apparently this child copes with exhaustion by ratcheting up her vocal production; pooka fell asleep almost as soon as the truck was moving, but bug chanted the whole way home: "not 'posed to rain. i don't wanna get soaping wet. it's raining, mommy. can't see the airplane. clouds. where the moon?" when she is well-rested, her conversations are more mature, but not less animated.

by some miracle, both of my children are naturally very polite. they picked up quickly the habits of saying thank you, please, sorry, or excuse me. the application is not 100% accurate, but saying it at all shows some precocious sense of courtesy. bug will say, "sorry" when you say "ow" if it had nothing to do with her, but when she barrels into you or steps on your groin, then it doesn't occur to her that your pain might be her fault (perversely, she usually laughs when your pain IS her fault-she gets that from me). bug recently learned the manner of saying excuse me when you want to interrupt a conversation. the next step of then waiting until you're acknowledged hasn't sunk in, though, so she sits there and shouts, "excuse me! excuse me! excuse me!" at you until you do acknowledge her. but it's so adorable to hear her tiny little voice saying these niceties.

if these days aren't exactly the terrible twos, they are definitely the 'me-toos.' if you have something, or are doing something, or going somewhere, she wants to have, do, or go also. it doesn't matter if it's chocolate or medicine, cleaning or playing, to the bathroom or to work: she wants to, too! it doesn't even matter if more than one person is having, doing, or going, she will want to have, do, or go to ALL of them. normally, it's endurable, ~~except when she wants my dr. pepper~~ and we love to share with her.

her undying devotion to her sister (that began the instant they met) is, well, undying. moreso than anyone else, bug wants to have, do, or go to whatever pooka is having, doing, or going to. pooka is the sun that shines on bug's entire world. even when pooka is mean to her, intentionally or accidentally, bug can't help herself--she can't quit pooka. it's funny to watch them together because sometimes pooka enjoys the adulation and sometimes gets aggravated by it, but other times is completely oblivious to it. at the dinner table, she has no idea that bug is mimicking her every move. she drinks when pooka drinks. takes a bite when she does. tries to talk at the same time as pooka does. even puts her hand on her head or some other action. EVERYthing done by the big is mirrored by the small. it's precious to watch.

she has become a bit of a picky eater the last few months. she is starting to reject many vegetables that she used to gobble, and more often than not rejects cooked meat in the form of chicken breast or pork chop. however, while she used to refuse any type of ground meat, she has recently started to enjoy meatloaf, meaty pasta sauce, and enchiladas with shredded chicken. so maybe it all balances out. she still loves all things bread, and yogurt. we know we always have a fallback option (and plenty of children's vitamins.)

all in all, this bug kid is doing a pretty good job growing up so far. well, let's emend that to "growing." she still is a tiny little peanut who expends all her fuel on motion and none on getting any taller.

it's no accident

2009-08-11T07:56:00.004-05:00

we have begun the potty training process with bug. she has been using the toilet sporadically since november, but i figured we'd wait to go full bore until the summer, when she could presumably spend most of her time outside, thereby reducing the inside messes needing to be cleaned. (we all know cleaning is not my strong suit.) also, i wasn't sure i could find underwear small enough to fit her little peanut's dupah. i was thinking i might have to shop at the toy store for clothes from one of those 'just like me' dolls. (just like me--only bigger!)

when we returned from the family picnic, we jumped on the bandwagon. i sent her to school monday morning in her cute little underwear, which she loves. we actually had an accident before we even left the house, but then she had 2 more at school and one later in the evening. not too bad for a first day.

the next couple days seemed to get worse, with poopy accidents thrown into the mix. of course, we were doing small loads of laundry every night. the results at the end of the week were not great. i was waiting for the day care ladies to say, "she's just not ready. let's give her a couple more months." but they never did. so we went into the weekend fairly optimistically.

saturday morning was rough, because i left her home with kisu. (i wasn't about to take her grocery shopping with me.) we're all a little rusty on this process, so he had to clean up a few accidents that may or may not have been his fault. (he learned that if she says she's poopy, you better get her to the potty, even if she doesn't stink.) the rest of the day was not bad.

sunday was quite good. i did backtrack a little by putting her in a diaper for church. i didn't want to saddle some unknowing, kind-hearted nursery volunteer with that kind of trouble. the time she did spend in undies that day was successful, (i even had pooka take her potty once) until poppa showed up. that was just too much excitement for her and she had an accident.

monday morning, the day care director shared a little insight with me. they noticed that bug seemed to be having more accidents outside and the circumstances, along with her behavior, led her to believe that bug was doing it intentionally so that she could change her shoes. apparently she had a poopy mess one time which didn't leak down to her sandals and when the teacher didn't replace them with sneakers, bug pitched a horrific fit. so we tried keeping her in sneakers all day monday and guess what?

NO ACCIDENTS!

is that one smart kid, or what? they also said she woke up dry from her nap. can it really be this easy? one week? of course not, but it looks like it won't be too bad.

i'm so proud of her. and of course thrilled at the prospect of cutting down our diaper usage. a side benefit: her cute little dupah looks even more adorable in tiny, tiny underwear!

how cute is this kid?

bring your kids to work and let them drive you crazy day

2009-07-30T14:16:00.010-05:00

tuesday was ce creativity for kids day. pooka loves this event, and i enjoy most of it, too. i approached this year's event with much trepidation, however. bug is too big to be confined to a stroller all day (why bother bringing her, then?) but too rambunctious to not bring a stroller to confine her when (not if) necessary.

the day was a mixed bag. the morning was tough before the activities officially started. pooka was well engaged in the art project, but all bug wanted to do was deconstruct the one i was making on her behalf. (and doing a pretty neat job, and i say so myself. the making, not the unmaking.) finally we headed outside where the inflatable attractions were in full swing, despite the wind and threatening rain clouds.

the rain held off for the most part, but the wind was an issue all day long. at one point, the roof of the bounce house collapsed with my kids, among others, inside. the attendant quickly evacuated them, but bug was the last one and hanging back just out of reach of the tiny flap opening. during the whole process, she kept repeating, "not funny, not funny," which was, ironically, quite funny.

the wind was helpful when it came to the bubble blowing process, though. all you had to do was pull the wand out of the bottle and, whoosh, away they went. it prevented bug from getting bubble mix in her mouth, a little.

we ate lots of junk food, got tattoos, caricatures, and balloon animals. what more could you cram into one day?

bug was able to participate in more activities than i thought and she ran herself ragged. pooka was pretty beat, too, and i was done in well before either of the kids were. we returned to my desk to see if i had any actual work to do. unfortunately, i did need to complete an important task for my boss before i could leave. bug chose this time to have a complete meltdown. she went nuts running around the whole floor, getting into places she shouldn't. i buckled her into the stroller, obviously later than i should have done, and after 5 minutes of complaining, she fell asleep. at that point i figured i may as well see out the day. she slept for 45 minutes in the stroller, then slept again on the way home, as did pooka.

napoleon reincarnate

2009-07-27T08:15:00.005-05:00

bug's speech has really been improving. so much so that we can now understand when she's giving us orders. and if we don't respond quickly enough, she adds, "right now!" but her little voice infused with imperiousness is so cute, we just end up laughing.

in the car last week, she gave me a time-out. and then gave one to kisu for laughing. at various other points in that drive, she admonished me to slow down and to keep both hands on the wheel.

she's just having fun, trying to see how far she can push it, i'm sure, as opposed to really wanting the things she's demanding. for example, she tells us to stop tickling her. seriously, what 2 year old doesn't really want to be tickled? coincidentally, she has stopped using "seriously" when yelling at us.

her current favorite phrase actually is, "knock it off."

if she starts walking around with one hand stuffed in her shirt, i'm gonna get really freaked out.

avian assassin

2009-07-24T08:30:00.000-05:00

i think my truck doesn't like birds. maybe he's particularly sensitive about being pooped on, or maybe he's always been like that. usually he tolerates it, but last week, he reached a boiling point.

he claimed his third (and possibly fourth) victim(s).

on the drive to magee's, we took the scenic route through the countryside. this offers many views of birds, horses, fields, and other natural wonders. on this trip, it was not so wonderful for one tiny, brilliant yellow bird.

i registered his presence and dangerous proximity to the windshield just early enough to raise my hand encouraging him over the roof. alas, my jedi powers failed and he thumped, directly in front of me face. i jumped. i think everyone in the truck was aware of it, but only kisu found it funny (the bastard.) i continued on, speechless in shock for a moment. and then we started discussing zed's unhealthy history of bird bashing.

for the rest of the trip, i sustained a heightened awareness of the birds flying around us, and several times thought we would have another impact. kisu thought my paranoia was funny, until the bumper clipped another wing. i'm pretty sure that bird survived, but seriously! it's starting to freak me out.

kisu spent the whole weekend teasing me about it and made sure to tell everyone that i like to hit birds. but honestly, it's not me. i'm not a strong believer in demonic possession, especially in inanimate objects, but i've got to deflect blame here. i don't want to end up like tippie hedren.

independence day with attitude

2009-07-18T14:43:00.000-05:00

we had a very nice holiday weekend. kisu and i both had friday off, so we got the yardwork and housework done before the big day. saturday morning, we ran around and picked up awesome dessert from the grand traverse pie company. (YUM!)

i even got to take a delicious, if unplanned, nap before the guests arrived.

we hung out, played cards, did some more impromptu yardwork, admired the garden, and then it was time for fire.

the first fire was the grill, of course, so that we could eat yummy food. which we did, in abundance. after some more play time, we enjoyed our cherry pie. *slurp* then there was more fire!

we opened the garage door and the rear door of zed for a place to contain bug and burnt stuff in the driveway. i wasn't sure how bug would react, but i knew pooka would love the colored sparklers i bought.

kisu, pooka, and dani had fun lobbing smoke bombs, until pooka almost launched one into daddy's defunt car.

at first, bug was content to sit on the deck and watch, but she overcame her timidity and wanted to throw snappers. poor kid is so small she couldn't even make them pop. of course, she mostly was arcing them instead of aiming straight at the ground. she finally got the hang of it and i had to stop her from throwing them directly at people, as the older girls were setting a bad example by doing.

bug even decided to try her hand at some sparklers and then, look out. she ran threw them so fast. again, it was some work to keep her from injuring other people with them, but she had a blast.

that's the most fun i can remember having on the fourth in a long time. i never did get to see any 'real' fireworks, but i'll take family fun anyday.

swim time!

2009-07-17T15:11:00.005-05:00

summer trips to kevin and marianne's always mean swimming!

pooka was an eager beaver to get in the water and didn't care that it was cold (well, 78).

once i finally convinced myself that i should get in for bug's sake, i pulled her in with me. i think she would have much preferred it if i hadn't taken the trouble.

pooka stayed in for hours, as usual. bug and i were done pretty quickly, especially once she started screaming. (so i dunked her, big deal!) i was a little disappointed that she didn't take to the pool this year as much as she did last year, but i chalked it up to water temperature.

the next weekend was caleb's birthday, and this time there was a selection of swimming containers to choose from. bug was a lot more enthusiastic in the baby pool and downright ecstatic in the toddler pool, especially after kevin enacted my brainstorm to have the toddler slide land in the water.

she was even more photogenic after donning a suit i found at a local garage sale. can't go wrong for 50¢.

she spent hours in that mid-size pool, just splashing, climbing the slide, and just acting like a lunatic in general. we pulled her out occassionally for food and party activities, but she was drawn like light draws a, well, a bug.

in the evening when i was ready to put her to bed, she got away from me and squirmed out the back door. before i could grab her, she sprinted across the deck and did a fully laid-out, head-first dive into the baby pool. i wish i had managed to take a picture of it. it was amazing. she laughed like a loon. typical bug.

don't make them angry, you wouldn't like them angry. especially when they're hopped up on enough pinata candy to choke an elephant.

self-service

2009-07-14T14:19:00.003-05:00

bug is generally a good sleeper. she willingly goes to her crib and always wakes up bright and cheerful (unlike another child who will not be named, but it rhymes with kooka). however, sometimes weekend naps are merely 'quiet time' with her books, as opposed to actual sleep.

bug is also well into the stage of "my do it, " although she is bizarrely selective. putting on her own diaper: yes; feeding herself: no.

this past saturday these two seemingly unrelated traits met for the first (and, please God, only) time.

when i put bug in the crib, she claimed to be poopy. after using the infallible sniff test to determine that she was not, in fact poopy, i put her down and closed the door. for the next hour i could hear her reading to herself or talking to her many cribmates. as i was starting to doze off, i heard her get a little more agitated. she was insisting again that she was poopy.

when i opened the door i could see her standing bare-bottomed with diaper in hand. recalling my sister's stories of her children painting walls with feces, i rushed in to find what looked like an empty diaper. and then and i looked at her feet.

she was standing on a giant turd, and getting more upset about it by the second. as i whisked her out of the crib, the blob came with her. i deposited her, and it, on the changing pad and tried to minimize her squirming, which was certain to maximize the smearing, while also grabbing a wipe to contain the offending matter.

i have to admit i did a pretty good job wrangling, which makes for a less entertaining story, i know, but i won't apologize for NOT having poop smeared on myself and the floor, as well as my child.

i enlisted pooka to get bug hosed down in the shower while i cleared out the crib contents and threw her clothes in the washer. afterward, bug was completely content to get back in her crib and return to reading.

~~pew.~~ phew.

she's a survivor

2009-06-23T14:22:00.011-05:00

a few weeks back we went to a 'celebration of life.' this is the annual get-together sponsored by the oncology department at children's hospital for patients, current and past, and their families.

this year was the first year we have been available to attend. i wish we had gone before because it was a blast! it was held at a giant amusement center. they have batting, arcades, go karts, boats, etc. we had so much fun and we didn't even get to stay for the whole day.

being ~~anal~~ good little techies, we looked them up online beforehand to get an idea of what we wanted to do. pooka had some activities on her must-do list, as did i. we told pooka before we went that she if she wanted to do her things, she was going to have to try some others, as well. if you know pooka, you know she crabbed about it.

when we actually got there, though, she was surprisingly willing to try our must-dos. one was a hit, the other was, well, also a hit, but not in a good way.

the first activity was rockwall climbing. kisu suggested that we race up the wall, but that just wouldn't have been fair. (besides, i had to pee something awful and i knew the harness would destroy any shred of bladder control i might have after birthing two children.) so i just watched and took pics of her efforts. while waiting in line, i made sure to point out how gently the other people were descending. that eased some of her fears.

she was very nearly eager when the aide put her harness on (which is way more than i can say for the aide himself. a more bored young man i have rarely seen.) she even chose a route that was not the easiest. she really tackled the wall with gusto, but after the first 3 moves stopped and fell off. she looked like she wanted down, but we said no. she reset herself and climbed more. she was only a body length from the top when she quit for good, claiming that her hands hurt.having overcome her first obligation, she dragged me to the bumper boats where she proceeded to soak me.after that refreshing adventure, we hurried to stand in line for the go-karts. this place is so big, they actually had 3 different courses for different ages and experience levels. we had to wait through 4 rotations, but she benefited by being the first in line in her group. that meant she got her choice of car:

all the rest were black. she had a great time, even if we did have to yell at her to speed up or not hit the wall. she claims she was going as fast as she could, but she's not the speed demon type. when bug gets in one of those things, lookout.

while everyone else was waiting for the go karts, i ran off to swing for the fences of the batting cages. there were no real lines there and i'm not sure if it was because it was a less attractive activity or because you had to walk towards the back of the facility. i was able to hit 10 pitches and get back to the track in time for pooka's drive. but our time was running short, since we had plans to go out for kisu's birthday dinner. pooka wanted to do water wars, but i insisted that she attempt the batting cages. we headed over and again she surprised us by actually stepping up without whining. we had to wait for 1 person ahead of us and i used the break to show her where to stand to be able to hit the ball. ahh, here she failed herself. when she entered the cage, she stood precisely over the plate. frankly, i'm shocked it took as many as 3 pitches for her to get hit. she connected twice but the third took her squarely on the knuckles. she was officially done.

the only drawback to the day from my perspective (since i didn't get cracked on the hand by a pitch) was the lack of activities for bug. it was so crowded and we were so focused on pooka and photographing her actions that we didn't want to let bug out of the stroller. the poor thing spent the whole day sweltering in her prison. but she did get a chocolate chip cookie.

all in all, an awesome day celebrating an awesome group of people: survivors and their caretakers. we're hoping they hold next year's celebration there, too. we'll be there. and so will she:

our very own william wallace

2009-06-23T08:10:00.002-05:00

otherwise known as 'braveheart'.

we were driving in the truck the other day, listening to i don't know what song on the radio. bug was babbling away as she has recently been doing. everything is 'momma, look.' 'momma, what's that?' etc.

i was simultaneously trying to acknowledge her, in the faint hopes of quieting her down, and maintain a conversation with kisu. somewhere in the cacophony, bug heard an interesting word on the radio. she repeated it, "freedom!" that was all she said for the next 2 minutes. over and over.

i wish i could remember the song so i could try and get that response again, because it was pretty funny and cute as hell.

working on the pronouns

2009-06-17T10:35:00.000-05:00

bug's speech has been audibly improving day by day and week by week. i thought she was going to be way behind her sister, but the gap might not be that great, ultimately.

her latest task is a difficult one for toddlers, grammatically and egotistically. the differentiation between mine and thine. the idea that something in the world might be "yours" and not "mine" is a large barrier for 2 and 3 year olds to hurdle.

bug has been working on it, as i said. she will begin, "ball. my ball." and when the response is, "no, this is not your ball, it is my ball," she will repeat, "my ball. no, yours ball."

progress.

she is pretty comfortable with "myself", as in, "no, my do it myself!" but we really threw her a curveball with "yourself." the other day at breakfast she wanted me to feed her. (this is something that particularly irks me in the morning while i'm trying to assemble lunches, after having inhaled my own food. i'm pressed for time, plus? she knows how to feed herself!)

anyway, after doing our usual dance of "eat," "no," "ok, fine," "help me," "no, you're a big girl, you do it," i walked away. she got very frustrated and yelled, "you do it yourself!" as she threatened me with her spoon. i had to laugh.

and then i fed her.

goggles

2009-06-16T10:05:00.004-05:00

bug had a heckuva day on saturday. she hit a trifecta of damage. she snapped pooka's headband in half (not while it was on pooka's head), she pulled the pin out of the closure assembly on the screen door, and she broke my glasses.

i was in the shower and kisu thought they were pooka's. pooka is forever leaving her glasses (even the spare pair) in random places around the house, so she got quite the scolding. bug got a thrashing, as well. when i told kisu that they were mine, he did right and apologized to pooka.

meanwhile, i have no glasses. it's not really a big deal because my prescription is very mild, but i did have to get some cheap sunglasses. i cannot tolerate the glare while driving and my clip-ons don't clip-on to my eyebrows.

ultimately, i will have to get a new pair of specs, but i don't relish the thought of spending $200. my friend at work tipped me to a site called goggles4u.com. there is a wide selection of inexpensive frames, free shipping, and a feature that allows you to ~~experiment with various levels of ridiculousness~~ preview them when you upload a picture of yourself.

besides being a useful tool, it lets you get your elton john on.

by the way, these are the ones i'm probably getting:

fit to be tie-dyed

2009-06-14T15:20:00.000-05:00

*just found this draft from 4/13. it was waiting for pictures, so here they are.

we colored easter eggs on saturday.

bug was delighted with the idea of coloring eggs. she was so studious about it.

daddy even got in the act, which doesn't always happen.

i bought a tie-dye kit and it was pretty neat, but very time-consuming. each egg took at least 5 minutes to apply all the color and then let it sit. not the typical "plop it in a cup and wait impatiently for 90 seconds" method.

and then we colored the baby.

pooka, the spider hunter

2009-04-28T09:47:00.003-05:00

our house, like many others, has spiders. mostly just the translucent yellow variety, although we have seen a much larger, and hairier, species once or twice. the yellow ones are essentially harmless. which is good, because lately they have been quite numerous. we typically take a modified live and let live stance. they have a safe 'spider' zone: anywhere higher than we can reach without aid. if they venture into the 'people' zone, we usually dispose of them. they congregate mostly in the kitchen, but perversely, they seem to like pooka's room second-best.

unfortunately, pooka has a fear of spiders. this, combined with her unnatural flair for melodrama, creates hysteria whenever she spies one. (in our house, that could be more than once a day.) since pooka has a loft bed, she is closer to the spider zone, and that amplifies her anxiety. we have had several nights post-bedtime where she left her room crying for us to kill a spider.

one night the hysteria got to be too much and kisu decided that it was time for pooka to face this fear. he told her that she had to kill her own spider. or she could ignore it and go to bed. she sobbed for at least 20 minutes. finally we realized the spider had left, and so she went to sleep.

a few nights later, the scene reoccurred. this time, i was on duty. i gave her the unused paper towel that kisu had provided before and gave her some pointers on spider smooshing. she just cried. after many pleas and attempts at bartering (on her part), i shut her in the room.

she lost privileges that night for her cowardice. she even lamented the fact that she was "such a cry-baby" --her words! after 35 minutes, kisu arrived to apply the muscle. (she responds to his discipline often, only rarely to mine, although we use the same ~~threats~~ techniques.) finally he delivered the ultimatum: "kill it or name it, because you're grounded to your room until you deal with it."

5 minutes later, she came out and said, truculently, "i did it, daddy." she was, i think, a little bit satisfied for having done it. when she opened the wad of paper towel to prove her skill, it was empty; she got defensive. from the privacy of my bedroom, i laughed. kisu helped her locate the maimed spider on the floor and finish it off. now she could rightly claim her first kill.

after many hugs and proclamations of pride and honor, she returned to bed. kisu and i went into the kitchen.

where we saw SEVEN more spiders.

they arrange memorial services quickly in the arachnid world.

trash picker

2009-04-27T09:52:00.002-05:00

i remember that "trash-picker" was an epithet we used when i was a child to describe poor people who had to rummage through the garbage of others to find scraps of clothing to wear. or so we thought.

what a revolution now to see people who voluntarily "free-cycle" food out of dumpsters. and it's considered eco-friendly and uber-conscious.

we are not quite that green, but we did do some trash picking this weekend. kisu suggested i take the girls out for a bike ride while he cooked dinner friday, but i knew that bug would not be able to go all the way around the block on her push-bike. pooka pre-empted a toddler meltdown by dragging the wagon out of the garage.

we started out (me:reluctantly) but only got halfway down the block when pooka said she was too tired. we walked her bike back to the house, but she didn't want to go in yet. no, she wanted me to pull them both in the wagon. (reluctant +2)

on our first foray, we picked up the paper that had been thrown onto our walk by a hapless duo in a large pickup truck weaving their way down the street. they lurched close to each drive with one person leaning out the window to throw the paper, then inevitably getting out to reposition it after the lousy throw fell short of its target. why the passenger didn't just stand in the truckbed and chuck the papers out i don't know. do i have to mention it was two females performing this farce?

anyway, as we headed out on our second attempt, i noticed many pieces of garbage lying in the grass. being on the corner, our lawn gets a lot of attention from lazy, no-good bums who can't be bothered to take care of their own messes.

that is to say, we get some mysterious trash items.

i suggested to pooka that we pick this trash up and she was prepared to run into the house to get a garbage bag. she was perplexed when i told her to use the newspaper bag. she couldn't fathom what we would do with the paper.

she was quite excited and we picked up a fair amount of paper bits, and partial wrappers (nothing more scandalous than a cigarette box, thankfully) with her hopping in and out of the wagon just like a real garbageman. (yay for my shoulder muscles!)

we encountered one homeowner who was incredulous when we told her what we were doing. it probably didn't help that although i have seen her taking great care of her yard, we were still finding more there to clean.

we managed to fill that whole sleeve well before we completed the lap. i felt very accomplished and also proud that pooka tackled the job with such enthusiasm. little by little, we are taking care of our world.

monkeys everywhere!

2009-04-09T09:43:00.008-05:00

bug's birthday party was last weekend. she likes monkeys. ergo, we had a monkey party.

we had pictures of monkeys on the walls. (but no pictures of pictures of monkeys.)

we had inflatable monkeys.

we had a monkey balloon.

we had a monkey on the cake.

bug was dressed in her monkey shirt.

the gifts were monkeys.

what we didn't have? bananas.

but nobody minded. bug had such a good time, she slept in the next morning AND took a 3.5 hour nap. yay! we tired out the toddler!

tea party for the age (of 7)

2009-04-07T09:17:00.000-05:00

sorry for the delay on this.

pooka's birthday party was held at granny's tea room. it went surprisingly well.

i was nervous about having a gaggle of 7 year olds in a room with classy, breakable fixings, but no problems occurred. and the two boys that attended even had a good time.

they ate finger sandwiches of pbj or turkey, and treats of 2-bite chocolate cake and a spoonful of ice cream served in a molded chocolate tea cup. gee, i should've taken a picture of those...

the kids really got into the place and loved wearing hats. thank goodness granny had some top hats for the boys.

a couple girls said that they wanted their next birthday parties hosted there. even better, many of the adults bought loose tea and said they would be back for more.

that's what kids are for

2009-04-06T09:10:00.005-05:00

blog fodder, right?

pooka has always been advanced for her age, in everything from smarts to attitude, but lately, i think it's getting a little out of hand.

i have intercepted my first love note as a mother. and it comes complete with graphics:

pooka's young enough where this is still charming and adorable in a dismissable way. the funny thing, it appears completely mutual. way back for pooka's birthday party, the boy's mother told me about the card he wanted to buy for pooka. it read: "to my wife."

we had a grand laugh, but pooka didn't hear about it (i don't think). so to see this note come about a short while later tells me there truly is some feeling there. i'm not about to arrange a dowry or anything, but i think these two will be lifelong friends.

she doesn't know i snatched this note, either, so don't narc on me.

p.s. i just realized that i never posted about her birthday party. oops. check back later for pics on that.

make a wish trip day 1

2009-04-02T09:38:00.009-05:00

so, we went to california. pooka's wish to meet m*ley c*rus finally happened. it seemed so strange in the days leading up to it. we couldn't believe the day had actually arrived.

the 4 of us were picked up in a limo at 7am on wednesday morning. i was nervous about how bug would behave on the 5 hour flight. she was not horrible. she had her moments, but she only slept about 20 minutes, despite the benadryl we had administered. we were all out of whack when we arrived in cali. we had only had a small snack on the plane and our bodies didn't know what time it was.

we got hung up at the car rental place due to a small error on my part. apparently when i went online to add carseats to our order, the system 'lost' the fact that make a wish was paying and not us.

by the time we got to the hotel, we didn't know whether to eat or just collapse into bed. we had to call for a crib and to let the front desk know that we had someone's nasty month-old leftovers in our fridge. i didn't want them charging us for an empty mini-bar when it was never full to begin with.

we finally got ourselves gathered enough to go looking for food. we drove our mammoth vehicle (in l.a.? hello?) out to find a restaurant. after going several blocks in the wrong direction, we realized that we should have just grabbed the stroller and walked. we were a mere 4 blocks from the ocean and the food was even closer than that. we stopped in for pizza at a place we thought was going to be a lot bigger. i was disappointed that we were eating pizza, again, on our trip. i wanted something less run-of-the-mill, more 'california-y.' (but cheap, cuz i'm like that.)

despite my crankiness, we enjoyed our food and then took a short trip to overlook the beach. it was windy and a bit chilly, so we didn't get close, but we did walk around the 3rd street promenade a bit.

we discovered a candy store that made pooka's eye bug out. bin after bin of chocolate covered items, old-style penny candy, jelly beans. i picked up a few choice items; not exactly stuff you can't find anywhere else, but stuff i don't look for or get often. pooka went for the jelly beans she begs for every time we go to the grocery store. they even had exotic treats like scorpion lollypops. the lady had signs out: "yes, they are real." "no, i haven't tried them." that made me laugh.

two more errands stood in our way before bedtime: a grocery store for some emergency staples (no need for room service for hungry kids at odd hours), and a drugstore for kisu's forgotten meds. after we accomplished both of those, we headed "home." we got our beds situated and we were all asleep by 830pm, cali time.

cheese is contagious

2009-03-04T10:59:00.002-05:00

so last weekend we did it again. this time i made the excursion, dragging along pooka and my niece danica.

at first, pooka didn't want to go and she pitched a fit because she thought we would make her eat everything and wouldn't let her choose one or something like that. i'm not sure exactly, kisu us the family psychotherapist on her. i get too frustrated.

anyway, we bravely ventured into the cheese fridge at westborn market. that place is freezing! they had everything nicely sorted on wire racks. an entire 4' wide, 6 shelf rack of cheddar! one for swiss, several shelves for italian, blue, and french. the featured selections this month are irish, naturally.

pooka cheered up and decided to participate when i pointed out a chocolate cheese fudge. forgetting, momentarily, that we tried it and didn't particularly like it at the cheeshaus in frankenmuth, i allowed her to buy it.

danica picked out one, i chose one for me and one i thought kisu would like. we grabbed a baguette and headed home. $30 in cheese, people!

we tried to prepare a proper cheese tasting board, with a selection of crackers, baguette, and apple slices. elegance went right down the drain, however, when i dropped two hunks of cheese on the floor downstairs. pooka had to retrieve one from under the couch. the cat licked up the smears.

a very short time later, we were crumb-covered, lactose-saturated, and lethargic. we also had some new data for our cheese files:

chocolate cheese fudge: meh. one bite cheesy, one bite chocolately. neither in a good way. pooka liked it, so she will be getting it for lunch desserts for awhile.

white stilton with lemon zest: a (poorer) cousin to the mango/ginger variety we had last time. good flavor, but the zest left a gritty feel. paired well with the apple slices.

chevre with honey: i like goat cheese when it's incorporated with other things, like as a binder for a portobello filling (which i've done), but not so much when it's the main flavor. kisu and danica enjoyed it and the small portion we bought was eradicated.

formaggio with roasted garlic, tomato, and basil: like a pizza without the crust. so much flavor! i think it would be perfect melted onto the baguette, but we couldn't be bothered to go back upstairs.

a dutch cheese labeled vlaskaas: not sure if that is the brand name or the type. it was a hard cheese, similar to parmagiano reggiano, but not as pungent. it was described as buttery and sweet. it was fairly strong, but i decided that i liked it. good on the apple slices.

a good haul, but left us only wanting more. danica wants to participate again and we have already marked out 2 to try next time. i want to avoid too many mix-ins, like the herbs or the fruit. they're good, but i want to experience the natural flavor of the cheeses first. the inherent character infused by the bacteria that create each individual type.

wow, that makes it sound kind of disgusting.

bye bye binky

2009-03-02T15:42:00.003-05:00

both my girls were pacifier kids. with pooka, we had to have 5 or 6 stashed around the house for the chronic misplacement of it.

bug is not quite as attached, but it is a definite cue of naptime/bedtime for her. at daycare, they stopped offering it, oh 6 months ago or so. at home, we were still employing it. occasionally i would tell her, "when you turn 2, the binky is gonna go bye-bye, ok?" and she would agree. i thought i was doing a good job preparing her in advance.

until last weekend, when i actually set us back a little. she wasn't feeling well and i let her carry the bink around the house pretty much all weekend. during the week i realized my mistake and decided to correct it. permanently.

thursday night, the bink got 'lost'. when i put bug to bed, i told her i would bring it in when i found it. she was fine with that, but golly gee i never did find that thing. friday night when she asked about it, i just redirected her. that worked fine until 5 am saturday when she woke up too early. usually the reinsertion of the bink puts her right back to sleep. this time it took a little backrub. when she woke up much later, i saw that my timing for her binky-intervention was not the greatest: she had a fever and was feeling lousy. of all the days to not have that self-soothing tool. i wasn't sure how naptime would go, but ultimately it was fine.

sunday afternoon she saw the binky on the kitchen counter. "dere i' is!" she declared.

oops.

once again a little redirection avoided any further attention and as soon as she was out of the room i buried that sucker(!) in the trashcan. with 4 nights and 2 naps under our belts, we are officially done with the binky.

now i'm thinking: perfect timing or too soon? we have this little trip coming up. long flight, strange bedroom. recipe for cranky toddler or one less thing to pack/lose/replace?

let's pray it's the latter.

cheese extravaganza

2009-02-27T10:58:00.000-05:00

kisu and i don't consider ourselves foodie snobs, but we do think that we know how to appreciate the finer goodies in life. to a certain extent. we are both at least willing to give everything a taste test. often, the most pretentious items just don't suit our palettes. for example, neither one of us cares for caviar or wine, really.

what we do like, though, is cheese. i would even consider a trip through europe based primarily on cheese-tasting, in fact. (and i have seen them advertised, btw.) we are perfectly fine with american slices on grilled cheese, but also enjoy a nice, sharp aged cheddar or a smoky swiss. periodically we get cheese on the brain. several months ago i scouted the cheese case at the grocery store and came home with a garlic cheddar (great on lunch sandwiches) and a cranberry wensleydale that was like dessert.

last weekend, we wanted to scope out a more upscale place but neither of the girls were up to leaving the house. we actually attempted to get a babysitter so that we could go out and buy cheese together.

**ahem**

anyway, i consented to let kisu go alone and he came back with a smoked swiss, apple cinnamon monterey jack, and mango ginger stilton. the first and last we adored. the middle one was only alright. you could see the apples, but not really taste them and monterey jack itself is a very mild cheese. i ended up putting it on pooka's turkey sandwich this week. the mango/ginger was pretty much killed in a day and a half and the swiss is gone as of today.

this weekend we are putting another expedition on the to do list. we will drag the children if necessary. that's how tight the grip of cheese is upon us right now.

thank goodness we're not lactose intolerant.

january catch-up

2009-01-23T11:22:00.015-05:00

wow. i guess i did get distracted by facebook.
that and the switch around at work doesn't leave me the same freedom to blog during the day.

anyway, here are some of the things we've been up to since the last post:

we got all dolled up and went to see wicked with noel and nancy.

we rang in the new year pretty quietly with the girls and danica (well, really bug was already asleep).

we met some new friends at a board game party for adults (thanks, jen!)

the girls were cute

we discovered that bug needs a real haircut but will never sit still for one.

make-a-wish gave us tickets to the jo bros.

there are some cute videos to be seen, but i haven't edited them yet. maybe i'll get around to that before next month....

christmas day

2008-12-26T08:33:00.002-05:00

it was a nice, fairly quiet day, although it started waaay too early. i had told pooka the night before that if she woke up before we did, her stocking was fair game. (i tried to ensure the girls would sleep in by keeping them up a little later than usual.) i never expected to be startled awake at 3 am with her looming over me complaining, "this is all that was in my stocking!"

i sent her back to bed, only to be woken up at 5 by a whining bug. something unidentified woke me up at 730, at which point i couldn't go back to sleep. at 8 we got the kids up and started unwrapping gifts. this year the gifts were few in number, but great in meaning. pooka was disappointed that she didn't get the ds she's been asking for all year, but she was thrilled with her mp3 player and her heated mattress pad. we only had to remind her a few times that it wasn't about how many gifts she got, but how great those gifts were. bug actually was interested in opening presents. a little bit. she loved her new bear and wanted me to open the play-doh right away, but i wasn't ready for that.

we cleaned up, got some breakfast and then retreated to the big bed to watch a dvd. this caused bug and i to need naps. later in the afternoon, dad and tina came over and the gift cycle started over again. kisu was thrilled with the new single cup coffeemaker. now we need some visitors to come over and test its versatility. both girls were very happy about their personalized weekender suitcases, especially bug who know has her own 'bock-ock'.

then we got dressy and headed over to kisu's parents for dinner and more presents. thanks to (childless) uncle adam, pooka got a giant makup kit. oy. kisu knew what he had bought and apologized to me in advance. i wonder how long until she uses everything up. she tends to go overboard on things like that.

bug had only had about an hourlong nap, so i was nervous about how crazy she would get. by the time we sat down to eat (which took her all of 10 minutes) she was wound tighter than a spring. when we let her down from the table, she started spinning in circles and laughing like a maniac. the adults were entranced, waiting for her to crack her head on the solid wood coffee table with the super-sharp corners. (that house is not even kid-friendly, let alone child-proof)

it was a pleasant day, the gifts were not out of control and we all just enjoyed each other's company. although i was not feeling very much in the spirit leading up to the holiday, i did enjoy the day. i am thankful to have a lovable and loving family and also for the birth of our savior.

merry christmas to all.

snow day

2008-12-20T08:21:00.007-05:00

it was pretty much a foregone conclusion. the storm was so well predicted that everybody was prepared for today to be a snow day.

everybody but me.

i forgot to have pooka bring home her snow pants and i left bug's snow boots at daycare. i also left my desk at work with half-finished projects (some of which are christmas related).

this really screws with my pto time, too. i only had one day left, which i planned to use on tuesday to take pooka to clinic. with both the elementary school AND daycare closed (that never happens) i had no choice but to stay home. i could take pooka to work with me, but there is no way i can contain bug for 8 hours at work and actually get anything done. so tuesday i can either try to hurry and get to work for half a day or have poppa take her. pooh. i had planned on movies and a haircut with her.

once i dragged myself out of bed (after being rudely jolted out of a doze by bug who was wielding a pen all over my sheets, my devotional book, oh, and herself) i decided to make the most of the day. but when i asked gleefully who wanted to play in the snow, i was greeted with silence and blank stares. my new boss had ok'd me staying home, but as it turned out, kisu forgot his meds and i was going to take them to him. uh, that is, i was gonna try. we got about a mile away before concluded that the effort was not worth it. even in zed, the roads were slow going with at least 8 inches of snow and no plows in sight.

so we promptly turned around and i convinced the kids to play in the yard, instead. while pooka went inside to add more layers, i took bug for a sled ride. i started too fast for her at first and she was nervous. when i slowed down, she started to enjoy it. we were heading in for a break, when she leaned over to look at something and stuck her face right in a snow bank. she laughed until she realized how cold it was.
once pooka (finally!) came back out, i put both of them in the sled. it's amazing how much harder it was to pull with two kids in it. they both enjoyed it, though, until the end of the ride when i dumped them out. pooka's legs actually ended up planting bug deeper into the snow. she was pissed! pooka was laughing, though.

it was a lot colder than it usually is when snow is falling (how does that work, anyway?) so we didn't stay out long, only 10 minutes or so. when we came in i got the girls changed and in the big bed to warm up. i threw the wet stuff in the dryer for a potential return engagement and made some hot cocoa. it might have been bug's first try and since i put it in a sippy cup, she downed it superfast.
we spent the rest of the day sleeping, basically.

well worth the 40 cents

2008-12-07T11:38:00.000-05:00

it was so hard to keep a straight face, but she had no idea what we were laughing at anyway.

kisu and pooka had been taunting each other throughout the evening and kisu threatened to put a dirty diaper in her bed. she responded with, "you better not or else!"

after he finished emptying the diaper champ, he got a clean diaper, filled it with tap water and put in smack dab in the middle of her bed. this is itself was funny. however, the fact that she was so oblivious to it made kisu nearly pee his pants.

she climbed the ladder (we were already grinning, waiting for her reaction) she opened the covers (i snorted and had to make up a reason for my laughing) she reached a hand back to steady herself (squarely on the diaper) and finally, she laid down right on top of it.

still no reaction.

kisu was doubled up laughing, which she correctly got defensive about, and sat up to throw a teddy bear at him. at this point, she noticed the diaper and hurled that at him instead. "gross, gross!"

kisu literally had cramps from laughing so hard.

after we got her contained back in bed, she didn't find it funny. she got quite mad about it, actually. she's such my child.

sometimes i hate cars

2008-12-02T14:45:00.000-05:00

not really, i just hate when the time comes to spend money on their maintenance. especially when said money is hard to come by.

two weeks ago, i got the girls loaded into the truck and headed for daycare as per usual. i left pooka in the running vehicle because it was freezing! and quickly dropped bug off. then we headed over to latchkey to drop pooka. this time i shut the truck off. by the time i came back, it was dead.

turning the key, i heard an abbreviated startup kind of grinding, then lots of clicks and the dashboard lights starting flashing.

oh, hell.

after a brief prayer, i tried again, with no better result. i called kisu and let him know. he suggested i call dad, but dad couldn't take me to work after the tow truck dragged me to the garage.

i waited 45 minutes for the tow, and kisu met me at the garage whereupon the manager told me it was going to be "major surgery." always nice to hear.

halfway back to work, the garage called and gave me a laundry list of things that need to be replaced. predictable, right? when i asked what caused the non-start this morning, he said, "oh, that was just the battery."

2 to 4 players, ages 6 and up

2008-11-30T11:49:00.000-05:00

we had a nice thanksgiving, even though it felt a little rushed for me, having worked until 11pm wednesday and then a little more than a full day on friday.

turkey day was relaxing at dad and tina's. we napped, watched a little football, ate a lot, and capped off the evening with a rousing game of scattergories.

we were several rounds in when pooka, in addition to her usual role as die-caster and timer operator, chimed in with some answers. what a delight to see her reading the categories and trying to find answers that fit. some of them were prime choices, too.

later in the weekend, we went to adrian to see kevin and marianne. the girls had a night out to see a production of a christmas carol at the croswell. pooka wore her very mature theatre outfit.

sunday the boys went to the movies, while the girls entertained ourselves by playing board games. pooka tried her hand at scrabble, and while i helped (a lot) she did give it a try and added up our points for us.

i am so proud of her and how she's growing up. and soooo glad that she is moving beyond candyland.

crackbook

2008-11-27T14:39:00.000-05:00

i haven't been writing much here. i have been way too busy playing saving the planet. otherwise known as playing solitaire on facebook.

i have become one of the many addicts to that social network. once i got past the rigorous vetting process (it seems they didn't believe my name really was megachick) i quickly got hooked by how many darn people i know. in fact, the first hour, i contacted a friend from college who happened to be doing freelance work right that minute next door at my very own employer!

and it snowballed from there. although, to be honest, it's starting to slow down. i'm re-discovering that there really is a limit to how much solitaire you can play before your brain starts to liquify. that's why i started this hobby in the first place.

so eventually i'll come back here and start retuning my writing skills and paying attention to my children in order to have material on which to use those skills.

Do Good Sunday

2008-11-16T17:50:00.004-05:00

Today like ! my mom said ! was Do Good Sunday I was Doing washing toys!
It was fun but there was A lot of toys to clean we got through all the toys.

*********************from pooka

ice queen

2008-11-16T17:42:00.005-05:00

lately pooka and i have been getting along a lot better. she has been behaving and i have had a longer fuse, miraculously. despite her usual attitude toward me, she is actually a very sweet and caring child.

today was "do-good sunday" at church and my chore was to pick up trash at the local clinic that the church supports. i wanted to do something physical but had no idea that we would get a snow squall in the middle of the day. we were coated and soaking wet. when i finally came home, i wanted to bury myself under the blankets and sleep away the chill i felt in my bones. pooka was sympathetic. she also wanted to avoid folding her laundry. while i was sleeping, she thoughtfully covered me up--with every blanket she could find. i awoke feeling a little bit like i was sleeping in a furnace.

but my feet were still cold!

i love my church family

2008-11-06T09:16:00.000-05:00

never before have i been somewhere where they clamor to take care of your children. last year we went to a christmas party and people were grabbing bug left and right to hold her, carry her, feed her. after services on sunday, they often do the same, one day almost fighting over her.

this year, they moved kids' choir rehearsal to wednesday night at a time we couldn't make. the director volunteered to drive waaay out of her way to pick up pooka from latchkey and get her to church. when the logistics ultimately didn't work out for her, a friend whose daughter is also in the choir called and asked if i minded if she picked up pooka instead. mind? why would i mind? you guys are doing all the work for me!

i have now performed twice in the sweet spirit choir and both times i have heard compliments, "good to see you up there. you sounded great."

this place is chock-full of lovely individuals who truly want you to fully enjoy the atmosphere and experience the fellowship. i love it here! i'm so happy to discover what i was missing by running out the door as soon as the last amen was said.

reduce, reuse, recycle has a limit

2008-11-05T09:04:00.003-05:00

i am a pretty strong force for the 3 r's in our house. we use canvas shopping bags, we fill our bin weekly with milk jugs and glass jars, and we reuse plastic containers as much as possible. kisu participates if he thinks about it and pooka follows me fairly closely. i think bug will be a believer, too.

butt, i think she may push it a little too far.

the other day while pretending to use the training potty, she got some tp and wiped (her belly button, mostly), put it in the bowl, then pulled it out and wiped again. she actually repeated this several times. thank goodness she hadn't actually used the potty. pooka and i were cracking up, but clearly we've got a ways to go on the training.

thug bug

2008-11-04T08:42:00.000-05:00

our little bully put this outfit together on her own, except for the pajamas which she was already wearing. she pulls the potty into the bathroom, sits on it (clothed), gets up and pushes it back into the living room. maybe soon she'll really use it.

halloween just doesn't excite me

2008-10-31T08:51:00.000-05:00

i don't think i've ever been into halloween, which is weird because i think both my parents enjoy it, especially since they met at a halloween party. and don't you usually learn to love the events your parents love?

i can only recall a few halloweens with any sort of clarity.

youth: some sort of costume that involved wearing a decorated cardboard box.

adolescence: i dressed up like a businessman (slacks and a sportcoat. how original) because it was the only thing i could afford as a college freshmen. yes, of course, i did it just for the candy.

adulthood: when i was pregnant with pooka, i didn't dress up, but i remember handing out candy. one little boy came to the door and saw arizona, our first cat, walking around. he made a typical toddler comment like, "is that your cat?" and i replied, "no. that's my husband. i turned him into a cat because he made me mad." i don't think any 'scream' mask could have made his eyes wider than they were at that. heh. it still makes me laugh to think about it.

since we're talking about old music

2008-10-30T08:04:00.000-05:00

certain songs bring back specific events in my memory, and other songs just bring up general feelings or images from recurring scenarios.

hearing jim croce's "bad, bad leroy brown" reminds me of driving around in dad's truck singing along until i realized i said 'damn'. i didn't know if i would get punished for swearing. i don't remember dad saying anything at all, but having parenting experience now, i'm sure he was laughing at me.

listening to "hot legs" or "do you think i'm sexy" by rod stewart always makes me think of pam and i remember sitting in her room next to her tiny record player as she danced on her bed. hearing "bridge over troubled water" just makes me think of her in general and our relationship.

we used to do a lot of duets back in the day. dad had a reel-to-reel player and used to tape us singing. sometimes it was just for a lark, or to record candid memories, but sometimes it was a performance. i remember pam and nicole practicing "you light up my life" repeatedly for days and days until i was about ready to scream. then again, jeanine and i rehearsed "love will keep us together" almost as much. she and i also made up some of our own ditties which we thought were awesome, of course. i haven't spoken with her in years, but whenever i hear that song i think of her. thanks to 93.1 doug.fm, i hear all these old songs a lot more often than you'd think.

dad had some of everything on those tapes. his music, our music, our voices. there's one reel of dad trying to get me (approximately 3 years old?) to recite something for the tape, but i refused to do it. what's there is probably more than 5 minutes of him offering different requests and suggestions, but all his coaxing was futile. i don't think you hear me say anything more than "noooo."

it's funny how kids will do some of the strangest things for attention, unless their parents ask them to.

this is the 3rd time and i'm starting to take it personally

2008-10-29T07:12:00.000-05:00

my college was well known for it's gay-friendly atmosphere. so much so that a tomboy with short hair, who liked to wear jeans, eschewed makeup, listened to melissa etheridge, and didn't sleep around was assumed to be gay. even by my father, at one point.

i didn't get around much, but both of the guys i 'dated' in college before kisu ended up being gay. well, one of them was bi, but still.

recently i found out that a guy on whom i had a major crush in high school is also gay.

what the hell?

i don't have a problem with gay people, except that it makes it more difficult to date them if you're the opposite gender. obviously, this is not an issue anymore, but i'm starting to develop a complex. of course, that's just silly. i didn't turn them gay, right? (did i?)

i told kisu straight up, if he ever even has a fleeting thought about changing his orientation: please, for the sake of my vanity, just keep it in the closet.

a classic (rock) education

2008-10-28T13:57:00.001-05:00

one of the very first songs i ever sang to pooka was don mclean's "american pie." it became one of her favorites and to this day still is. i feel bad that bug has only heard it from a cd. i just don't have the patience anymore to sing all 6 verses at one sitting (unless i'm driving).

pooka also had her fair share of nursery rhymes and other typical kiddie songs, but she also was exposed to a lot of the music that kisu and i listen to on a daily basis, although we keep out anything that's too, um, adult for her. therefore, she has a great appreciation for such artists as big & rich, barenaked ladies, cowboy mouth, great big sea, gaelic storm, third day, dixie chicks, jimmy buffett, and other assorted music.

i was pretty pleased with the breadth of her music experience until saturday morning. on the way home from dance class, i turned on a local folk-type music program only to hear the closing notes of simon & garfunkel's "the boxer." i was bummed that i missed it, but thrilled to hear the opening notes of "cecilia" follow immediately. it was at that moment that i was struck by a regrettable hole in the girls' education: no simon and garfunkel. no jim croce. no beatles.

what the hell have we been doing?!

immediately upon our return home i gathered up the respective cd's and vowed to have pooka listen on our next car trip. when next we entered the car, kisu hijacked the radio and played queen. despite the fact that i was by then actually craving some lennon/mccartney, it did start filling the hole.

pooka thinks i'm tormenting her, but after the tenth listen, she usually starts singing along.

tidbits

2008-10-27T14:11:00.003-05:00

saturday when kisu and i were out and about, we noticed a curious trend: the cops were out in full force. we passed through at least 5 different municipalities and saw cops (mid-action) in every one. was saturday some kind of cop holiday? i even saw several earlier that morning on the way to dance class. the really weird thing is that many times we saw them in groups of 3 or 4 cars.

there must have been some major shit going down that day.

****

this morning on the way to work i saw a vette pass me. (you know he was going fast if he passed me.) as he went, i noticed some large wheels in his passenger seat. thinking bicycle, it was only as i saw his handicapped plate that it clicked: a wheelchair.

i guess a vette doesn't have a lot of trunk room, eh?

18 month bug

2008-10-25T09:18:00.001-05:00

i can't believe how big she's getting. trite, i know, but look at her:

her personality continues to develop and shine:

she has lightened up on the bullying, at least at home. she responds better when you say, "no hitting," or, "be nice." she

her vocabulary is starting to expand significantly, as well as her clarity of speech. she likes to try out every new word she hears. friday night, all we heard was, "yook, yook!" as she pointed to her hand. she wanted us to 'look' at the marks she colored on herself.

it's funny, i don't remember pooka having any of those cute speech impediments that lend themselves to unforgettable family jokes. and at the time i was (inordinately) proud of her perfection. but bug uses 'y' for 'l' and i'm still proud of her. i know she'll grow out of it sooner or later. and for now it's part of her charm.

she is very self-assured and will let nothing stand in the way of what she wants. she has been known to drag the stool across the house to reach her goals. she is frighteningly fearless, climbing rocking ottomans (ottomen?) to reach forbidden items.

she couldn't be more different from her sister, and yet when they play together they are irresistibly cute.

we get her to do a little bit of show-pony stuff. we're still trying to get her to do the full "touchdoooooown michchchchigan!" but the way the season's going she hasn't heard it often enough to emulate.

and then she just stares

2008-10-24T21:11:00.000-05:00

pooka is really showing a lot of growth lately, particularly in taking personal responsibility for herself. she is getting into the rhythm of laying out clothes for school the night before; getting up without (too much) whining; doing homework. often the first words out of her mouth when i pick her up are, "i already did my homework, mom."

the reading homework is a breeze for her. whether it's poetry, library books, spelling lists, or writing, she enjoys it, looks forward to it, and does it well and usually pretty quickly. the math homework? not so much. well, she does show enthusiasm for it, but her facility with numbers is not as great as with letters. i think this is an inherited trait, because i never liked or did very well at math that much, either.

math trips her up even when it depends heavily on her strong language skills. she had to come up with two story problems the other day. the first one was easy (she had probably been thinking about it all day) but the second one just refused to show itself. i suggested she follow the theme/scene she used for the first. i suggested three different possibilities, but she said they weren't good enough. for first grade math? it's not a pulitzer prize, honey. i offered up other scenarios, too, but she just couldn't decide which one to use.

i'm beginning to think she has anxiety issues. in situations like this it just grabs her and won't let go.

so far that's the only plausible reason i can come up with for the way she behaves at other times, as well. when she's being willful or disobedient, we'll remind her of consequences (in a perfectly normal tone of voice): if you don't get ready for bed, you won't get snuggle time; if you don't stop whining, you will lose the daddy blanket.

she receives these ultimatums as punishments that have already happened. as if she knows she is unable to accomplish the things she needs to in order to avoid them. she will stop moving altogether, or she will whine louder or burst into all-out tears. it doesn't make sense to a rational person. you know what to do to avoid the punishment, so you do it, but not her. i think anxiety just freezes her and she locks up, incapable of making a decision or taking the necessary action.

we don't know what to do about it. we've talked with her at calmer times about what she needs to do to avoid those punishments, etc. she understands that she can control her own destiny somewhat, but in the heat of the moment, she just can't do it.

last respects

2008-10-19T21:07:00.000-05:00

the first encounter with death that i can remember is my grandmother when i was 14. pooka has faced not one but two episodes this week.

first it was the dog. friday morning, it was g.g.(great-grandma). kisu's grandmother's passing was no surprise, but still comes as sad news.

the most difficult thing for pooka to accept was that we were going to grandpa's friday night instead of the school fall festival.

she has accepted both deaths with an equanimity that's almost chilling. but then again, she's only six. and perhaps her distance from both entities helps to dull the sting. she only knew the dog for a brief 3 weeks, being told the whole time how sick he was and that he would soon be leaving.

she wasn't much closer to g.g. we saw her only occasionally, and she was never a very affectionate person. she did try a little bit with pooka, but i think the kid saw through her, saw her internal discomfort with intimacy. pooka is a very loving and affectionate child, but only offered g.g. the dryest and quickest of hugs.

kisu and i debated whether to allow her to attend the funeral services, but g.g. pre-empted that concern by mandating no service. she only requested a family luncheon, to which we have been told not to bring the girls. so much for the love and support of your blood relations.

singular suckitude

2008-10-17T21:01:00.000-05:00

kisu had to take primary responsibility for his mother this week, which took up most of the after work hours. so i have been living the life of a single parent. i have to admit i hate it. there's a reason i went the traditional family route: getting a husband and then the kids, you know?

i have new-found respect for those heroic women (and men) who manage to raise multiple children on their own, particularly in despicable circumstances, particular when they manage to instill in the children a drive to succeed and a measure of self worth. that isn't easy to do, even when you have a partner present to prevent you from getting medieval on those kids butts.

in particular, i have renewed respect for my sister who spent a large portion of raising her children doing it on her own. three kids, who were practically triplets, on her own because her husband was not only not helping, but often times actually trying to cause more trouble for her and for them.

once upon a time, i thought i wanted three kids, but after this week i think i have buried that idea. (as if the crashing economy hadn't already.) the tiny island of sanity to which i am desperately clinging would be completely engulfed by the tsunami that a third child would bring to our world.

maybe in ten years or so we'll have one of those 'oopsy-daisy' babies. by then our sanity will either be sufficiently recovered or completely blown and crazy will be normal.

vanity plates

2008-10-14T07:22:00.000-05:00

there are typically two options for personalizing license plates: vanity plates and 'support' plates.

vanity plates are the fun ones that offer so many options.

you can label your possessions: mybenz
you can go with your oh-so-clever rebus: 2fast4u
you can compress your name: lkeisha
you can hint at your favorite comic book: snikt (the sound of wolverine's claws, for those who don't know comics)

i have often thought about what i would put on a vanity plate, if i could bring myself to spend the extra $35. (i am so cheap, but definitely NOT easy.) i like 'megachk' or if i wanted to fork out an additional $35, i could get the u of m plate that has the first letter built in, and go with 'egachik' or 'ishu'.

the challenge, of course, is not only do you have to come up with something readable in 7 letters or less, but it has to be something that no one else has already taken.

the other way to go is a support plate. support plates are usually fundraisers for specific organizations, like conservationists or a university. they also have patriotic plates. these are the ones where you can proudly display in which armed service or conflict you served. i have seen quite a few that said korean war veteran, vietnam war veteran, a couple world war II veteran, and an increasing number lately for gulf war veteran.

today for the first time ever, i saw one that said cuban missile crisis. i didn't know they printed those. was that a conflict worthy of a plate? history's not my best subject, but i didn't think there was any actual military action for that. not technically a conflict but a tremendous build up of tension? that's like having a plate for cold war veteran. but maybe it was a special run for this particular driver because he looked an awful lot like castro.

curtain call

2008-10-12T20:13:00.007-05:00

we were out today and missed out on dugan's last hours. kisu returned to find the backyard empty, again. expecting a note in the mailbox, he went to the front door, only to find a group of people out in the street. at such an hour, it was unusual. one of them called out to ask if kisu had a dog. when kisu replied yes, the man said, "i just ran over your dog."

apparently, dugan got out and wandered across the street. guided by nothing but a desire to find warmth and security, he crawled under a recently parked car. not expecting an animal to be underneath, the driver pulled out and ran over the dog.

when i arrived home with the truck, kisu put dugan in and took him to the emergency vet. as he closed the door, dugan started crying. there's no other way to describe that sound and i will hear it in my head for a long time. kisu suspected a shattered hip or two but the vet diagnosed a broken back. the only thing to do was end his misery immediately. his fate was imminent, but we would never have wished that final injury to him.

we are still confounded as to how he escaped the yard. kisu thinks maybe he really pushed through the wooden gate and is berating himself for not checking it after the last incident. as if the man needed more blame to shoulder in this world.

i braced pooka for the situation on our approach to home. i told her to say goodbye to dugan because he wouldn't be coming home. she accepted his departure stoically. while getting ready for bed she railed against the neighbor again. she wants to set up a video camera to catch her trespassing. she will not let it go. i'm a little worried about her obsession. here is some of the conversation:

pooka: trespassing is mean and it's one of the commandments. mommy: it's one of the ten commandments? p: no, it's one of the 800 commandments from the devil and she is listening to him for some reason. so she's on the wrong side. m: she's on the dark side, like darth vader? p: no, it's not a movie and {agitated} i hate star wars.

*****
more tidbits from later:

m: maybe you could say a prayer for dugan, to help him get to heaven. p: why does he need help. m: we all need help. p: why? m: do you know how to get to heaven? p: die? {with wide eyes and a shake of her head betraying the unspoken 'duh!'} buy wings and start flying into the sky.

*****
if only it were that easy to find our eternal reward.

up in the air

2008-10-11T08:50:00.002-05:00

pooka and i had the rare opportunity today to pilot a small airplane. my boss's boss has a beechcraft sundowner in which he graciously offered to let us fly.

we met him at plymouth airport and spent some time learning about the machine and how to fly it. pooka seemed genuinely interested and learned some factoids. she was in the co-pilot's seat for the first trip and as soon as we reached a stable altitude, jim let her take the yoke on the way to fly over our house. she did a good job of staying straight, turning, and keeping us from plummeting to the earth in a fiery wreck. not bad for a 6 year old's maiden flight. especially since she couldn't hear jim's instructions. we found out later that her headset wasn't picking up communication inside the plane, only the chatter from other craft. that also explains why she said not a single word the whole trip. jim thought she was terrified, particularly when she refused to give up control when he took over. i thought she might have been scared, too, but i figured it was due more to concentration.

i got a little nauseous up there. between the heat in the plane (who said it gets cold up there?), the turbulence, and trying to locate the house while jim was circling repeatedly, i nearly lost it. not until leaving the airport did i find out that pooka felt a little sick, too. she hid it better than i did, though. i was dripping with sweat.

we arrived back at the airport and did a switcheroo so that i could take my turn at piloting. honestly, i wasn't sure i wanted to endure another trip, but i didn't think i should send ragan up by herself on just her second flight. but i calmed down after a few minutes and we headed for the house again since pooka didn't hear me point it out the first time.

this time, i took the plane all the way to our neighborhood, where i gave up control in order to pinpoint the house. you know, it's awfully difficult to identify things from up in the air. most buildings look the same. you have to use landmarks like water, or freeways, or in our case football fields to get your bearings. it was a lot harder than i thought it would be. and finding the airport? forget it. i'm amazed at pilots who could do that, at night no less, before gps.

i got queasy again on the second trip, worse this time because i hadn't completely recovered from the first bout. i just sat there thinking, "if you puke in his plane, he will fire you." that helped.

when we got home kisu said that he and buggy saw us and waved on our first pass. the whole thing took about an hour, and pooka enjoyed it despite the nausea. she has been so fortunate to have such a wide variety of opportunities in her young life.

encounters with animal control

2008-10-10T09:53:00.000-05:00

because dugan's stay with us is temporary, we didn't buy a doghouse or make any major modifications to our home or schedule for him. thankfully, the weather is pretty nice, so he's been staying in the back yard while we're at work and in the florida room or foyer at night.

monday we came home from work to find a mysterious supply of dog treats on the ground near his food bowl. we were perplexed, and a little angry/creeped out that someone was in our yard.

wednesday it rained. hard. fortunately, i was taking the girls to the doctor so i returned mid-morning, only to find an animal control officer parked at our house. he had the collar in his hand and said that someone called in to report no shelter for the dog. (we usually left the garage door open but had forgotten that day.) i gave the officer a brief run down of the situation and he said that he would close out the complaint and that we wouldn't hear more of it. he actually said that he wished he could tell me who called but he didn't know. i had my suspicions, but nothing i could do.

{there's only one neighbor who can see into our yard, who's home all day to see the dog there, and who (we suspect) has called the township on us for other petty infractions (lawn too high; wtf?) in the past kisu has actually caught the husband in our back yard 'helping' us with our fallen leaves. they usually help by picking up those leaves that fall into their yard and dumping them back in ours. yeah, they're that kind of people. never once have they actually talked to us (about anything). some neighbors. }

kisu put a padlock on the fence gate between our houses and we thought it was done, although we silently raged that we couldn't catch them again in their interfering, trespassing ways.

thursday we came home to find an empty yard. there was a note from the police in the mailbox saying that dugan was found "wondering (sic) the streets" and we could get him at the p.d. we were incensed. how the hell could a blind, arthritic dog escape our fenced yard? we suspected that someone (see above) intentionally let him loose. to what end we couldn't figure. to get rid of the eyesore of an old dog in the neighborhood? to force us to make 'proper' accomodations? or did he really escape? this dog who moves between three positions all day, can't see the wall before he bumps into it, and trips over every twig on the ground? he forced his way through a slack gate or a 5-inch gap from a missing fence post (he's a 26" inch tall dog, people) to go, where?

kisu retrieved the dog, although he wasn't able to speak directly to the animal control officer. he did speak with the desk officer who acknowledged that when the weather starts to get colder they get a lot of calls about the 'cruel' people who leave dogs outside. they're dogs. they have fur coats. get over it. he was sympathetic to kisu's situation.

kisu and i expressed our doubts and our suspicions to each other and pooka picked up on them, of course. she disappeared into her room and came out proudly brandishing a 'writing exercise' that said:

there is a mean lady next door. she is ugly and stupid. i want to kill her.

although it was funny in a very dark, macabre, and misspelled way, i'm disturbed by it. where did she get this idea of killing people over such a thing?

we're waiting to let dugan go until kisu's brother and mother can see the dog one more time, but i'm getting antsy because i don't want any more incidents with the police. also, i don't want him to suffer any more than he already is. he needs some mercy.

who's in first?

2008-10-08T11:41:00.001-05:00

pooka really enjoys school, except for the getting out of bed part. she likes her teacher, most of the kids, buying lunch, riding the bus, and the work. except the work is too easy.

she brought home some reading books one day and i internally ridiculed the difficulty level. okay, not so internally. pooka agreed with me and i let her send an email to her teacher. this sparked a somewhat defensive response from said teacher. i had to apologize and smooth things over to let her know we weren't questioning her teaching skills or planned curriculum. however, we do hold pooka to some high standards and we expect her to be challenged at school lest she become bored and get into trouble.

at the same time this discussion was taking place, the principal sent home a letter informing us that the first and second grade classes were crowded enough that they had decided to skim kids from each class and create a blended class. parents were asked if they wanted their children put into the blended class. assuming that the work might be more advanced, kisu and i jumped at the chance to put pooka there. the current teacher agreed with us. when we asked pooka if she would like to go, she responded, "i need the more challenging work."

there was much email communication with the teacher and the principal. the whole process, as the parents saw it, took a week. monday they informed and we requested. wednesday there was an informational meeting (which we couldn't make, of course, because of this cursed commute), thursday was selection day, and the following monday the first day of the new class.

to notify parents if their child was selected they sent home a smiley face postcard. kisu said it was like trying out for football: your locker had a red ribbon or a green ribbon to let you know if you made the team.

of course, pooka was selected. she was very excited and we were extremely proud. not only that she was able to handle the change and the potentially difficult work, but that she was looking for that challenge. in our younger years, kisu and i would both have said thanks but no thanks. why should i work hard when i can coast and still get by? nowadays, our attitudes have changed (in some respects) but we are thankful that pooka is showing a more eager approach to education than we did.

she is technically still in first grade, and the principal has said that at the end of the year she will progress to second. the curriculum in her class, however, is supposed to be more individualized than in the others (a blend of montessori and public schooling?), so we are hopeful that, if the situation warrants, there will be testing to determine her appropriate place for next year.

some people would caution against children skipping grades as it can lead to social awkwardness, but i don't foresee any problems. pooka is already one of the oldest kids in her grade, thanks to a late birthday, but she is also a very mature kid. even before the medical situation that forced her to associate with grownups 99 % of the time, she was mature for her age.

she is now in her second week in the blended class and is doing well. they do split the kids up for the special activities, like computer lab and gym, but otherwise they mix together. there's not really that much difference between first graders and second graders, anyway.

now, if only we could figure out how to get her to wake up pleasantly in the morning...

still hanging around

2008-10-05T10:09:00.000-05:00

well, at least he got a thorough bathing, and a blow-dry, no less! kisu complained that dugan's shampoo is fancier than his (more expensive, too!)

since the bath, i have deigned to let him stay in the house. kisu thinks i'm getting sweet on him, but that's not the case. i don't have anything against the dog personally (?), but i know what's best for him is not lingering in pain. his imminent demise notwithstanding, i can't in good conscience make him sleep in the 40 degree weather. he spends all day outside as it is.

fashion week

2008-10-04T11:39:00.004-05:00

bocce 2008

2008-10-03T12:01:00.000-05:00

it's time once again for the company bocce charity challenge. for the third year in a row we will be changing one player. this year jon is the lucky rookie and our team name is wombat flugtag.

we had a very slow start in the first match against the fried chicks, at one point down 11-3, but we managed to come back and eke out a 21-17 victory.

the next match was played under inclement conditions. i was freezing! it didn't help my sinus infection any, especially since i forgot my hat. this match was a see-saw battle through the halfway point until we finally got some momentum. we beat balls of fury 21-14.

our third opponent was crouching bocce, hidden ewald. movie title names are quite popular this year, with entries including no bocce for old men, and there will be bocce. it makes a nice diversion from the endless testicular references.

onto the match. it was a hard fought contest, with mutual commiseration over the poor court condition. there was also a lot of laughter even between teams, which is nice because some teams take this tournament waaaaay too seriously.

it's for fun and charity, people. (and for getting out of the cubicle for an hour and a half.) ultimately, we won 21-17, helped in large part by a round where we actually scored 4 points (the maximum). that never happens.

so we head into the weekend feeling pretty good and looking to rest up for the second half of the tourney. it's only gonna get tougher from here.

chicken giggles

2008-10-02T11:03:00.007-05:00

bug is, as so delicately described by the daycare director, a rough-and-tumble girl. that's just a nice way to say bully. this is no surprise to us.

we dropped bug off at school this morning at the same time as one of her best buds, connor. when i returned to the truck, i reported that bug ran immediately to her favorite teacher and pooka gasped in surprise. "really? but connor's here, i thought they would get together and do crime."

*******

this afternoon on my way to pick up kisu, i had a chance for a laugh. traffic was stopped in the middle of the road to allow an electric wheelchair to cross. (this was not why i laughed.) the humor entered a few seconds later when i realized that there were now two electric wheelchairs traveling the same street on opposite sides. like a race. because i'm so not-competitive (yeah, right) i started cheering for 'red' who was on my side of the road.

i never did find out who won, or even if they were heading for the same destination since i reached the intersection well before they did. i'm fairly certain they were, though, and i just know in my heart that one of them was taunting the other in victory.

*****

pooka is so proud of being a big girl and going to elementary school, but she is still getting used to the routing of collecting her own things and ferrying them back and forth daily. this week we wanted her to bring home the extra sweater and shoes she had at school. after two days of forgetting, i warned that another miss would earn her a note pinned to her shirt. she was distraught at the prospect. of course, she tends to get distraught easily.

sure enough, the next day she forgot. so today i pinned a note to her shirt. she was mortified. i felt sorry for her thinking that she would be ridiculed by her classmates all morning until the teacher removed the note. i didn't really think they would even care, but she was certain they would. the two things i was certain of? the items would come home and she will never forget them again.

dugan

2008-10-01T11:41:00.005-05:00

kisu's mother, who has not been a part of our life since around the time pooka was born, has lately been in declining health. we hear this via adam, kisu's brother. although he lived out of state, he actually kept in touch with carol and had a general idea of her welfare. recently, her condition has become dire. it was necessary for the boys to get a court order and have her removed to a facility for evaluation and care. this is a long, complicated, emotional story for another time. this post is about the dog.

the dog who was left in the house when carol was removed. honestly, there was not a good place for him to go. adam is lodging with family and we, well we have a very territorial cat and an empty house for 11 hours of the day. adam was checking on him daily, but one day {details omitted} dugan was picked up by the humane society.

dugan is a 15 year old wheaten terrier who entered the boys' lives the year before i did. i don't know if the dog means more to kisu than i do, but you see the chronology of it. judging by his current appearance he has been neglected in the past couple years. he wasn't let outside and wasn't eating properly. the boys' hearts were broken. without a place to stay, the humane society was going to put him down. they weren't ready for that, so kisu brought him to our house. knowing that he was a mess, we gathered up every old blanket we could find and cleared a space for him in the florida room.

pooka was so excited, she wanted to make a nice bed complete with a pillow, great big water bowl, etc. i warned her that he was old, sick, and probably wouldn't be around very long. she seemed to accept that with an icy clinical attitude. (she gets that from me.) when he arrived, we weren't surprised to see matted hair, covered in excrement that was also in the back of my truck. after an impromptu hosing off, he didn't improve. he was now soggy, shivering, and even more pathetic looking. pooka asked, "what's daddy doing to my dog?"

you see what happened there?

the first hours were a mess. due to age or illness he couldn't control his bodily functions. having admitted that he probably would be put down, we started thinking sooner rather than later. he can't hear, his eyes are cloudy, he's unsteady on his feet and trips over the merest pile of leaves. after the first day with real food (graciously donated by the humane society) he started to look marginally better; he controlled his functions and was able to wander slowly around the yard. daily he has continued, incrementally, to improve.

we are approaching the tipping point of painful mercy. he looks like he might be saveable, but is it what's best for him? he is old, his eyesight won't return. how much medicine should he be given? what will his quality of life be?

this needs to be resolved quickly, before pooka (and kisu) gets too invested in him.

the renaissance passed us by

2008-09-29T10:56:00.001-05:00

sunday i woke up obscenely early with a sinus headache and knew it was going to be a rough day. i called the doc and had some antibiotics wrangled because i self-diagnosed a sinus infection.

we met noel and nancy at the renaissance festival. it was quite a drive, with poor coty squished in between the girls in the back seat. i put my discomfort aside in hopes of getting lots of free chocolate: this weekend's theme at the ren fest. we didn't find any freebies, but they were selling lots of goodies. i was disappointed that the majority of them were not authentic. i'm pretty sure they didn't have krispy kreme back then. nor 'southwestern twisted egg rolls'. harumph.

we kind of had fun, when viewed through the perspective of the kids. well, really just pooka. bug was strapped into the stroller most of the time and coty was bored with waiting around for us. pooka made a wax hand (took about 30 minutes) and did the bungee jumper (after a 40 minute wait in line); see whence the boredom? when i realized i was going to have to pay a la carte for the bungee event, i told pooka that she needed to attempt some flips or something more than just jumping up and down. she can do that on her bed at home for free. she refused, but they have these helpers who strap the kids in and get them started; these people will 'help' the kids flip if asked by the parents. and so pooka did a flip. she had the meanest look on her face when she came around, but the smile peeked through just a little. she threatened to hit kisu and i both when she was done. i didn't think she would, but she hauled off and slapped me square on the belly. fortunately, i had a split second in which to flex my abs. (not a 6-pack, but firm, nevertheless.)

by that time, we were pretty much done. bug hadn't had a nap, but produced 3 poopy diapers, my head was about to explode, antibiotics notwithstanding, and we had spent plenty of money. thank goodness the entrance tickets were comps from Camp Casey.

we slogged back through the muddy forest trail to get to the truck and i relinquished the wheel to kisu. (yes, that's how bad i felt.) we made a pit stop at mickey d's (also not authentic, but a heckuva lot cheaper) where coty - that handsome devil - proceeded to flummox the girl enough that she charged me for 3 happy meals instead of 2 and forgot to give me the kids' drinks.

we bathed the girls when we got home and then i pretty much collapsed. time travel is exhausting work.

vignettes

2008-09-24T21:20:00.006-05:00

we finally got our campaign lawn sign and bumper sticker today. i was a little disappointed that they didn't warn us that there was some assembly required. i put it together and pooka asked if she could put it outside. assenting, we watched her maneuver it through the door and march down the walkway, chanting, "john mccain, john mccain." kisu couldn't have been prouder.

*****

after dinner, i washed bug up, but we used the shower head instead of a bath. she loves to stand in the water flow. we played a little body part identification game by telling her to put her toes in the water, her hands, her head. when we were done washing up, kisu told her to shake her dupah and she started waggling her butt and dancing. we laughed ourselves silly.

*****

the second edition of family fitness night went well. pooka still is slightly uncoordinated with the jumping jacks, but actually managed to knock out two sets of ten sit-ups--real ones! she also did a lot better on the pushups, and is still excited about this activity. i am very encouraged by her enthusiasm. now if we could just get her to eat some vegetables.

from boy to man

2008-09-23T22:12:00.000-05:00

the last time pooka saw my nephew, she was afraid of him. not because he was intimidating, but merely because he was a he, and she was obsessed with her female cousins. also, i suspect he was a little unused to dealing with little girls.

tonight he showed up with granny and poppa for a visit and pooka couldn't get enough. surprisingly, he responded and they interacted in a genuine manner. bug even started to warm up to him. pooka showed him all her favorite things: her leotard, her garden (even though it was dark), her toys downstairs. she was very upset when he had to leave, but is looking forward to this weekend when he will be staying with us. he promised to draw her some awesome sidewalk chalk drawings.

this visit was a bit of a surprise to me, but it should have been foreseeable. coty will be shipping out on active duty later this fall and the grandparents wanted to see him. (not that i didn't, but i couldn't afford to buy him a plane ticket.) i'm sure he has an ulterior motive, as well, since we are a border state to the country where his (ex?) girlfriend lives.

nevertheless, i am glad to see him. i pray that it's not the
last time.

is it a job or a vocation?

2008-09-23T07:41:00.005-05:00

sometimes people are called to their jobs, in much the same way people are called to ministry. it can become apparent at a young age or at any time in their lives, even while in the midst of another occupation they may think is their life's work.

when i was little, i had only one job ever in mind: i was going to be a veterinarian. inspired by my love for animals, and the james herriot books, i knew i would dedicate my life to keeping our furred friends healthy.

that all changed one fateful day. a job shadow at the local vet's office happened to coincide with the onset of flu symptoms, resulting in my nearly passing out while witnessing the vet's messy attempt to access a retriever's vein. the animal jerked when punctured and gouts of red blood were smeared all over, marring the appearance of the silky golden hair. whether in response to the unaesthetic scene before me or to the as-yet-unknown bug in my system, i wilted and slumped into a nearby chair. from that day forward, i started thinking about what else i was going to do with my life.

i still haven't quite figured it out.

that doesn't appear to be a problem my youngest child will have. she seems clearly destined for one job in particular, based on her obsession with toilets. yes, that's right. i can look forward to the proud day when bug becomes a master plumber.

when loosed in the house, her favorite place to hide is squished in behind the toilet. it doesn't matter whose house we're in, either. she will find the nearest toilet and wedge herself next to it. additionally, her favorite toy is the plunger. unsupervised, she will steal it from its resting place and run around the house with it. the other day she ran twice around the upstairs before i caught her and i had to pry the filthy tool from her chubby little hands.

well, at least i can take some consolation from the fact that plumbers are reputed to make good money. and with all the bullshit being shoveled the world over, she'll never have to worry about job security.

better late than never

2008-09-22T21:39:00.001-05:00

this is the very picturesque patio of slow's barbecue joint, where we went tonight for our anniversary dinner, finally.

kisu had been looking forward to visiting this place for quite a while, so even though i am in the midst of a head cold we went. early in the day it looked like i would have to cancel, since i suffered a few hot flashes/waves of nausea i didn't think i'd survive. now i know what menopause will feel like.

after lunch i felt much more stable, although still stuffy. i banked on getting a real spicy sauce that would open up my sinuses and allow me to actually taste the food. that didn't quite happen, but i understand that the grub was really good. the most i can say for it is: unusual (the split-pea and okra fritter appetizer) and juicy (the pulled pork, pulled chicken, and brisket combo). kisu says it was all delicious and that we should definitely return. i'm all for that. i'd like another chance at some of the side options without the olfactory handicap. i did manage to save a significant portion of my dinner for leftovers, though. i think i'll keep them until wednesday in hopes that my head will clear by then.

the restaurant itself was very nice. there's a bit of an in-crowd feel going on that starts when you miss the door. we actually had a guy across the street holler over to us that we missed it. the door and the patio wall are very reminiscent of a stockade or an army fort. as you can see from the picture, that feeling is amplified by the arrow slits in the patio wall. inside, the design was industrial meets natural, as demonstrated in the bathroom: large metal slabs formed the stall doors with no effort made to hide the welds for the hinges, handles, etc. the sinks were two rectangular rough-hewn stone basins. it was a pleasing combination.

all in all, we had a nice evening, made all the better by the fact that when we returned home, the two kids were already in bed. i took a shower, some medicine, and promptly fell asleep watching the season premiere of heroes.

saturday outing

2008-09-20T21:15:00.000-05:00

we were to meet up with bubbe and zayde today at greenfield village. as is all too typical, i was running late. i dropped pooka off at dance class and went to get some groceries, only to get caught up in that eternal debate: paper or plastic? (just kidding, of course i use the store-branded canvas grocery bags.) but seriously, i did get lost in that place. this was not my usual store.

bottom line, i was 30 minutes late to pick her up and when i got there she was nowhere to be found. i was certain she'd be in the lobby balling her eyes out, making every parent in the place hate me. instead she was happily watching a class of young kids, not the least bit upset that i was late, until i brought it up. then she was all, "mom, why did a teacher have to come get me, why didn't you?"

so after that fabulous bit of parenting, i went home and busted kisu's chops for not being ready, etc. and we finally left for the rendez-vous. i had tried calling, but b & z had already left their house and i didn't have a cell number for them. halfway there, i suggested kisu call their son, but he said that it would take longer to get hold of b than to just get to the meeting point.

i was worried they wouldn't still be there, but a moment later i got a call from noel saying, "bubbe and zayde are waiting for you at the fountain." hearing noise in the background, i asked, "are you there, too?" turns out, noel and nancy were out for a portrait session and decided to spend the beautiful day at the village. how fortuitous! now see, if we had been there on time, they never would have caught sight of noel and nancy. the Lord works in mysterious ways, indeed.

so after we grabbed some historical grub, we headed straight for the carousel. because nothing goes better with a sated stomach than saccharine sweet (repetitive!) music and going round in circles. i couldn't even contemplate getting on that contraption, so i let the kids go with daddy while i brought bubbe up to date on the family drama (oy, the drama!) i had the camera with me, but i knew with zayde there that i wouldn't have to actually use it. and with noel's serendipitous presence, i had even less to fear. here are some of noel's shots (or nancy's):

no, i did not have another baby, that last shot is n & n's gorgeous girl; will you look at those eyes!

we spent the rest of the day wandering around and riding the train, an experience i do not recommend with a cranky bug. we wrestled the entire trip because she was determined to crawl the length of the train under the bench seats and i wasn't really so keen on her falling onto the tracks between cars.

our last stop of the day was heinz house. inside we saw the 57 varieties of goods that h.j. heinz & company sold. and here i thought '57' sauce was so named for its variety of ingredients.

oh, don't go there

2008-09-19T12:42:00.007-05:00

i don't usually get political. mostly because i'm not sure how i feel about some issues, but every year i get pulled in a little more and start to understand a little more. when mccain tapped palin for veep, i got pulled in a lot more.

i have always like john mccain; i wanted him to be the guy back in 2000, but nobody listened to me. anyway, i will admit that part of my approval of palin is for her gender. women get the job done and it's time we started smacking some of those washington dipshits around.

i applaud her frankness and humility. i LOVE that she embraces her hockey mom-ness. that's totally what i would be if i had kids who wanted to play hockey. (there may be hope for bug, yet, although she may go straight for football.) i like that she's a no-nonsense, hands-on mom trying to get things accomplished on an even bigger scale. it couldn't hurt to apply a little domestic discipline and multi-tasking to the selfish, whiny brats involved in the national government.

and can you just picture her sitting down to middle eastern peace talks? "you two are not leaving this table until you hammer this out. i don't care who started it; nobody gets dinner until there's a workable treaty!" that'd be spectacular.

some people are slamming her for her conservative social views: the abstinence-only education (i disagree) and the anti-abortion stance in particular. when i read this article, a comparison started to crystalize in my mind.

i readilt admit to being a political novice, so forgive me for some sweeping generalizations but this is one facet of how i see it:
republicans want to legislate things like body rights (abortion, sex ed) and democrats want to legislate things like social conscience (welfare, national healthcare, etc.)

on the surface, both of these ideas should have great support. i mean, deep down who really wants to kill unborn babies? and who doesn't want to help their fellow man? and yet, each side decries the other for telling people how to live their lives.

what's funny to me, and not in a ha-ha way, is that the repubs are telling people (women) to respect themselves (e.g. not get pregnant until you're ready to keep and care for the child) while the dems are telling us to give our money to people who have not respected themselves (e.g. people who have conceived and birthed children they can't afford to feed, house, or medicate when necessary). i know there are always extenuating circumstances, but for the most part, you gotta agree with the adage 'an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.' (more crudely put: 'saying no will save the taxpayers thousands of dollars.')

as i said, both ideas are reasonable, but the loudest argument i hear is from the liberals saying that we have no right to tell a woman what to do with her body. well, ok, but you have no right to tell me to help my fellow man. nonetheless, you want to raise my taxes in order to do just that. i want to help humanity, but i feel it is my right to decide where my money goes and how much of it. you want to help humanity how? by condoning or even advocating irresponsible personal behavior and permitting 'oopsy-daisy' abortions? (again, i concede the possibility of extenuating circumstances.)

as a sidebar: liberals argue to keep church out of state, but from where does the idea of charity come in the first place? what argument is there for taking care of our fellow man other than "God told us to?" if we're going with a darwinistic approach, letting my fellow man starve or sicken to death is cleaning the gene pool and will allow me greater access to the resources i need to survive.

anyway, when i shared my conclusions with kisu on the way to work this morning, he clapped with (not quite evil) glee and patted me on the back, saying, "your conversion is complete. i have done my appointed job."

so i reached over, opened the passenger door, and said, "good, now get the hell out."

anniversary

2008-09-18T21:14:00.000-05:00

today is my 9th wedding anniversary and 14th anniversary with kisu. it's amazing how quickly it's gone.

i'm almost getting to the point where i've been with him as long as i was without him. weird.

thanks to crazy schedules and lack of a babysitter, we're not really celebrating tonight. we don't know when we will get a chance to do so. with what's been going on here lately, we didn't even have a chance to get cards. remembering that we drive to and from work together, we didn't really have the privacy to shop. but that's okay because now we talk.

somedays we talk more than others. some days it's important stuff, some days it's celebrity gossip. some days i talk and he lets it flow over his ears (so he's a normal husband, right?). and occasionally we even talk about us. about how well we complement each other. how we communicate and balance each other. support, encourage, correct, and restrain each other when necessary. we're not a perfect couple by any means, but we have a pretty strong foundation on which we are building our family.

we have been rocked by some pretty serious blows, but we manage to muddle through (largely by the grace of God) and come out stronger and with our sanity mostly intact.

i love you, kisu, and here's to the next 14 years.

the versatility of clothing

2008-09-17T21:14:00.001-05:00

i gave the girls soup and grilled cheese for dinner. after setting them up at the dinner table, i retired to the bedroom to talk to kisu. he was feeling somewhat disturbed, having just returned from complicated events with his mother and brother. (a completely different post on that later, maybe, if he consents.)

anyway, usually the girls are able to feed and entertain themselves/each other so i wasn't concerned. moreover, pooka is quick to attract our attention when she feels bug is doing something she oughtn't do. i did give bug a spoon, despite being reasonably certain she would not be very successful with it. she is starting to learn, though, and needs the practice. besides that, it was clam chowder, so there were plenty of grabbable chunks for her to eat.

6 1/2 years of parenting have not exposed me to every situation, but i wasn't remotely surprised to hear that bug tried to emulate her sister by drinking from her bowl of soup. considering that she can't even successfully drink from a cup without wearing most of the contents, it was guaranteed that she would spill soup on her chest. knowing what i was coming back to didn't stop it from being funny, though. the (originally) white onesie was dark with liquid and spotted with chunks of clam and potato. it was, basically, a strainer.

the only real surprise about this event? that i didn't take a picture for future embarrassment. honestly, though, bug doesn't strike me as the kind of kid who will ever be embarrassed by the crazy crap she does.

the divine mrs c

2008-09-16T21:10:00.000-05:00

because i obviously can't get enough of myself. here is a clip that's celebrates how hott i am.

the most fun you can have in the desert

2008-09-14T23:42:00.003-05:00

this weekend we went to the kalahari resort courtesy of camp quality. they are awesome.

we had a great time, even kisu who had to be persuaded to join his loving family and tivo the football games. this was a great weekend to spend at an indoor waterpark, considering the downpour we got (and even a tornado touchdown not too far away).

the place was insanely huge. despite our net surfing, we were completely unprepared for the scale of this destination. i guess we never really registered the 'resort' component in the title. we were caught a little unprepared in a few ways. one, although i borrowed an underwater camera from noel, i forgot my dry camera; there were a lot of photo ops i missed, like a live tiger cub! also, no adult thought to check on pooka's packing skills and she spent the entire weekend wearing her bathing suit since it was the only butt-covering item of clothing that was acceptable to be publicly visible. (although there were 3 stores in the resort, none of them had girls' shorts.)

but i did bring the wet camera, as i mentioned, so let's see some of those shots:

as you can see, pooka has made significant progress on coping with her fear of going underwater.

kisu and i were excited about the fitness room and both planned to use it, but by the time we were done in the water saturday, all 4 of us could barely walk (and we needed to, our room was about half a mile away from the hub of the resort). we were all asleep by 10 that night.

instead of working out, we pigged out. the adults got our money's worth at the breakfast buffet, and i even managed to make up for pooka, who ate only a bowl of cereal. dinner saturday night was a celebratory atmosphere, so we polished off this monster (the desert, not the baby, although they are roughly the same size): click for the full picture.

even bug partook of this, mostly eating the bananas, although she did get a little ice cream and whipped cream. i fear that i did the greatest damage, however. (playing in the water must have countered all the indulgences, thankfully, because the scale was nice to me upon our return home.)

this was the kind of family getaway that we could all feel good about. there was a variety of activities to engage in that covered all ages. kisu got to watch the michigan game, poorly as that ended, while bug napped and pooka and i rode the bigger slides and a water coaster. it certainly worked nicely into my thrive resolution.

we even managed to extend the joy by bringing home some decadent goodies from the candy hut. kisu got a caramel toffee apple; not just your average caramel apple, this had several layers: caramel, toffee chips, and rich chocolate. between 3 of us, we only managed to eat half (oh, we did save the other half for another time). pooka selected oreo bark (white chocolate with cookie bits mixed in) and i got a chocolate covered nutter butter, a pineapple truffle that is so rich it will take me a week to consume it, and an apple pie caramel. that one was delicious, but by the time i was done, my jaw felt like it was going to fall off. it was approximately a 1.5 x 2 x 2.5" solid chunk of caramel. yikes!

it was on this lovely family excursion that the following things occurred: pooka described bug's hair as 'reese's hair'; the lighter parts are the peanut butter and the darker parts the chocolate. (we're not really candy-obsessed in this family, honest.) and bug finally mastered pooka's name. granted it's not her whole name, instead it's the oft-used 'ray-ray', but it is intentionally that, and not just a garbled attempt at her full name. and it is oh-so adorable. now, if we could just get her to stop smacking pooka, they might be friends.

album review

2008-09-11T07:39:00.000-05:00

we bought the new laurie berkner cd last weekend. it's been awhile since we've heard new music from her and the band and it was a pleasant refresh of an artist our family really enjoys. i had forgotten how musical and fun her tunes are. they're not insipid like a lot of kids' music. classic nursery rhymes have their value, but a lot of children's artists don't get beyond the simplistic ryhmes of moon/june, etc.

her stuff has such broad appeal that kisu and i will listen when the kids aren't around. yes, i even took it to work to import into my itunes library.

like any good album, some tracks are instant favorites and others take time and repetition. on this album, the repetition is built right in for a song called 'going on a hunt' (5 tracks). at first it's downright annoying how many times you hear it, but then you realize that each iteration changes rhythm and instrumentation; from ska to blues to jive.

just because the songs are clever and engaging doesn't mean they aren't serious earbugs. just ask poppa; he spent an entire 20 hour drive singing 'boody-boody-ya-ya-ya'. currently, i have 'mouse in my toolbox' running through my head from the time i wake up.

i hear a bang, bang, bang of my hammer/ a turn, turn, turn of my screwdriver/ there's a paw on my saw and an eye on my drill/ and her little tail is wrapped around my pliers.

this rhythm is so catchy and the chorus so charming that you can't help but rock out to it. and it conjures up an image of a tiny rodent version of norm abram.

family fitness night

2008-09-10T22:49:00.005-05:00

last saturday, pooka attended a birthday party at a gymnastics facility. it was pretty cool, she got to walk the balance beam, swing on the rings, tumble, jump on a trampoline, etc. she said there wasn't one activity she didn't enjoy.

naturally at the end of this event, the facility handed out schedules and registration forms along with a $10 coupon. since pooka had such a good time, i thought we might look into signing her up. she is still doing ballet, but i just don't see that giving her enough of an exercise load to keep her fit and work off the steroids. since gym class is only two days a week, i feel she needs more activity. of course, we don't have a lot of free time to get involved in too much (especially not gymnastic competition) so we need to keep that in mind, also.

kisu would love to take martial arts as a family, but pooka is just so resistant. and of course, bug is not old enough. awhile back pooka had agreed to let me home-school her in 'karate' (it's faster to say than tae kwon do, and she doesn't understand the distinction yet, anyway) but i just haven't gotten around to it.

so combining all of these thoughts i came up with the idea for family fitness night. why pay someone to work my kid out when i can do it just as easily at home? we can do basic exercising and i can also teach her the fundamentals of tae kwon do. a collateral benefit to this would be, hello!, the family part. granted we would have to do this after bug is in bed, but 3 out of 4 isn't bad.

tonight was our first attempt, although kisu was called away to fix a computer. pooka was very excited about it, even though she had no idea what i was going to put her through.

we started with some jumping jacks, and jogging in place. we moved on to stretching, with which she was familiar thanks to dance class. i then began to teach her a basic middle punch. this was the most time consuming segment, because i had to get her into the correct stance and show her how to make a proper fist. after demonstrating (i can still make sleeves snap--even short ones!) i let her target my hand and give it a go. i was impressed with how quickly she started to get it right. she really enjoyed putting some power behind it and hearing that ~~satisfying~~ distinctive sound of fist meeting flesh. (yeah, we're not aggressive in this family.)

after the punching, we moved on to some calisthenics. i was surprised (and quite disappointed) to find out that pooka can not do a single sit-up. is this common in kids? am i explaining it wrong? (telling her to clench her stomach muscles like she was pooping didn't seem to help.)

nor could she properly do a push-up (not even on her knees). we've gone over this before, but she has trouble keeping her body straight from shoulders to knees. so we worked on that first, which also showed her how to clench her stomach muscles. we then did squats, which she could do and do well. and we finished up with calf raises. she did those well and easily, so i am a little bit suspicious that something wasn't quite right. she didn't have any muscle fatigue climbing the stairs afterward. maybe she just needs to do more of those, she does have some pretty impressive calves.

overall, she had a great time and is already looking forward to the next night. i thought once a week would be sufficient, but maybe we can do it more often. the only detraction is the time. she ended up going to bed an hour past bedtime, but as she gets more familiar with the activities it should go faster since i'll be spending less time on explanations.

i'm very glad she is excited about getting fit.

opportunity knocked (a hole in the door)

2008-09-07T22:40:00.001-05:00

working out is producing such stunning results that it has allowed to me explore some new occupations. recently i have taken a turn at towing broken-down cars, compressing bins of aluminum for recycling, manually launching space craft, and covering for atlas while he's on vacation.

but the one of which i am the proudest: as the model for a certain well known ~~baking component~~ odor-fighter. take a look:
too bad they won't give me free samples to put in my work out bag, because i'll tell you, all this hard work has more olfactory impact than a stroll through the rose garden (and not quite as pleasant).

first grade transition

2008-09-05T20:33:00.000-05:00

i wanted to capture a great picture for pooka's first day of school, but things were not cooperating. first it was her hair and the hats on the bedpost:

then it was the refractions off the taillight and license plate. who knew it could be so hard to get a decent picture?

so i'm stuck with these, because you only get ~~one~~ two chances to take a first day of school picture.

she had a great first week, anyway. we met her teacher tuesday night, which was a great relief to me. i didn't want her going in without any prior knowledge. i was worried that she wouldn't know where to go or what to do on the very first morning. her teacher is very nice (even if she is a sparty) and still has that shiny luster--fresh from the teacher factory. that oughta wear off after a few months with some crazy 6 year olds.

pooka loves being able to ride on a bus. i don't remember if i ever felt quite as strongly about that as she does. i think i preferred to be driven, but had to ride the bus.

she also loves the idea of buying lunch at school. this is also different from my childhood. i was always a hot lunch kid, until i was old enough to pack my own food. i envied the other children whose parents packed lunches into awesome lunchboxes for them. kisu and i think it's cool that on the rare occasions when she will buy hot lunch, we can load up an online account for her and don't have to worry about having cash on the spot or her losing it. and apparently they have a fruit and veggie bar they can access to get sides for their entree. that's pretty cool. i was worried about the kind of food they'd have at school. hearing news stories about pop machines and candy in cafeterias made me nervous. by packing lunch, i have greater control over what she eats (assuming she doesn't trade it away for junk) and also the school has a morning snack time, which snack must be either fruit or veggie. pooka eats healthy and school officials get to be the 'bad guy'.

so far she has experienced gym class and music class and she loves the novelty of it. we'll see if it wears off.

the latchkey program is working out well, too. it's not quite as riotous as we imagined. the adults do supervise and provide designated areas for either homework, quiet play, or energy-burnoff. they also provide a basic breakfast (toast or cereal) and an afternoon snack (more traditional munchies). excellent!

the only difficulty we're facing is tardiness, as per usual. still trying to get everyone taken care of in one vehicle. the first day we tried, we had late pickups for both kids; the second day pooka was on time, but bug was late (by a mere minute). we're still fine-tuning, obviously. i'm convinced that we will have to take two cars once the snow arrives, but hopefully we can continue to carpool for the next 2 months or so.

next week, kisu and i face the next big step in parenting an elementary school kid: pto. we intend to participate, but we need to figure out what level of involvement we can handle. i think we'll alternate attending the monthly meetings and see what kinds of opportunites are available after that.

another brilliant plan

2008-09-04T22:48:00.000-05:00

ok, i know my last idea didn't work so well, but i think the problem was one of scale. i wasn't thinking big enough.

my new proposition, which deals somewhat with the same subject is grander and also aims to solve 3 of America's greatest problems right now: unemployment, rampant obesity, and foreign oil dependence.

follow me for a moment.

we construct acres of energy machines (aka treadmills, steppers, or whatever the most efficient format is) and create a 24/7 operation with shifts of workers/exercisers. this energy is funneled into whatever operation is nearby and needs power.

admittedly, i'm a little sketchy on the details, but can't you just see this?
millions of unemployed people will have jobs!
millions of overweight people will get healthy!
millions (?) of barrels of oil will go ...somewhere besides the U.S.!

i'm sure jonathan swift appreciates my idea. but seriously, how else can we fulfill b.o.'s plan to end foreign oil dependence without drilling for more of our own or building some new alternative sources (i.e. nuclear plants)?

picnic weekend

2008-08-28T22:24:00.000-05:00

I was very much looking forward to the picnic and seeing my family again. unfortunately, most of the weekend was spoiled with tension and animosity. the good news is my marriage is intact. the rest is not so good.

anyway, the kids did have fun at the picnic, and i enjoyed seeing my cousins. especially phil with his 3 carbon-copy kids and the other one, who is also adorable.

i also got a chance to see nana, who is steadily declining. dad insisted on bringing her for dinner, even though we (his immediate family) felt that it would be more stressful than enjoyable for her. she doesn't know who the people are, where she is, or why. she's constantly concerned with getting back before she gets in trouble or getting to work. the older aunts wanted to see her, though, and so he brought her.

at least we got a pretty nice group shot, as we all pretended not to be mad at each other for the 10 minutes it took jason to get (most of) us looking the same direction without the sun blinding us.

on the lake

2008-08-27T22:50:00.003-05:00

so there we were: (forgotten name) lake in hillsdale, bathing suits, fishing poles, 75 degrees, sunshine, and a giant tupperware full of oblatney to share.

at the end of the day we had accomplished: bug swimming nude in a diaper instead of the swimmers i bought specifically for this weekend; pooka wading up to her ~~neck~~ knees in the lake while constantly being yelled at to keep her chest dry; catching 2 fish (pooka), feeding the fish (me); futilely pedaling a boat in circles due to a broken rudder; eating disgusting amounts of food, including most of my own treats.

in a word: success.

oh, and i totally did two L-seats on the swingset still rings.

camp casey 2008

2008-08-24T10:42:00.000-05:00

i thought this was going to be a beautiful day. i wore a tank top to ~~show off my guns~~ get some color on my arms. i obviously missed the weather forecast that called for winds, afternoon showers, and a high of only 70. duh. fortunately, we got the riding taken care of before the yuckiness set in. i ended up permanently borrowing a camp casey t-shirt to try and keep warm. it didn't help that much, but i appreciate it nonetheless. thanks, molly!

bug and pooka actually rode the same horse. i don't know if that was planning on the wranglers' part or just chance. pooka looked a little silly on the tiny horse. last year she was on the stately sjigborn. i would have been disappointed, myself, to be on such a pacific specimen, but i think the wranglers like them that way. and pooka just likes being on any horse. (she still pretends to remove the tack from and brush the horse at the grocery store after a ride.)

they had a balloon twister man at this session. it was fascinating watching him create such a variety of creatures. i have never seen some of the things he was doing. a balloon bracelet? too cool. i wanted a ladybug one for bug, but he had a sign prominently displayed that stated no balloons for under 3, and i felt that it would be wrong to ask for one for me.

sadly, this video is kinda crappy, but you can get a glimpse of how she was enjoying the ride before she started getting antsy. they pulled her off the horse before she could ~~start screeching and send the other kids' mounts galloping in terror~~ get really upset.

cool chick

2008-08-23T10:55:00.000-05:00

these were too cute to resist at the store. i didn't know if she'd tolerate them, but i thought i'd give it a shot. i put them on, and after a few seconds she pulls them off.but then she asks me to put them back on and this time she waits a couple seconds longer before she pulls them off. progress, toddler-style.

dunkaroo

2008-08-22T11:14:00.000-05:00

bug had a blast swimming at uncle kevin's house. i knew she would love the pool because she loves the bath so much, but i didn't know how she would tolerate going under water. to this day, pooka is still very afraid of going under, even though she knows she can practically stand up straight and keep her nose clear of the water.

in my infinite wisdom (HA!) i didn't buy swim diapers because i didn't think we would have the opportunity to use an entire package's worth by the end of the summer. although she is not growing that fast, i'm pretty sure they wouldn't fit by next summer. so we just used the regular diapers. have you ever seen a regular diaper so full of liquid it's liable to burst? know what? if it's at that point and you try to wring the water out of it, it will burst! and you will have slimy gel stuff all over you, the baby, and the deck, which will require much rinsing so that the brainless dogs don't eat it and end up with some kind of fatal bowel obstruction.

but in the meantime, it looks incredibly funny. she looked like the bug she's called. the poofy diaper made her look like a cartoon ant walking on its rear legs.

what's on the menu?

2008-08-21T08:49:00.001-05:00

pooka has the first grade pack of brain quest cards and periodically we go through a few. tonight we couldn't find them and so kisu and i had to improvise our own.

it's harder than it sounds. what specifically is a first grader expected to know? the math ones are easy to come up with, but the 'folk' knowledge category and the grammar ones are more difficult.

kisu came up with a good one, though. "which animal is a carnivore? giraffe, horse, lion, cow." pooka claimed not to know what a carnivore is, although we have discussed it before. so we backed up and asked what each of the choices eats. cow: grass; giraffe: leaves; horses: apples; lions: people.

wait, what?

well, regardless, that still makes it a carnivore.

camp quality pick-up

2008-08-17T13:31:00.001-05:00

ahhh, i've waited too long to write this and now i've forgotten what happened. (see description of blog.)

kisu was very anxious and impatient. he didn't like the fact that they wouldn't let us see the kids right off the bat, but made us wait while they paraded them in for a slideshow that recapped the week.

i was just excited to see her and to hear about the exciting things she did at camp. i wished that she would have as good a time at camp as i did when i was young. i anticipated that she would have grown a bit. a few days without being coddled by mommy and daddy, of not having a kitchen cater to her, of having the opportunity to try some new and exciting activities. i hoped there would be less whining and more self-direction.

perhaps that was too much to expect after one short week.

she did get some new experiences and new friends. we also established a new relationship with the camp quality people which looks like it's going to provide us with many rewarding adventures in the future. pooka's companion, jane, really took to pooka and has expressed a desire to stay in touch. she obviously doesn't know me and my utter disregard for returning correspondence. she would like to be pooka's companion again next year if pooka decides to attend again (we'll probably force her to, again.) maybe before then we can convince her that kisu's name is not steve.

the one activity we heard the most about was making human sundaes. a few of the companions (oddly enough, the young ones. the older ones wouldn't deign to get gooey.) volunteered to have sundae toppings poured over the heads and bodies. there was chocolate, strawberry, and i think some whipped cream. ewwww. fortunately, organizers had the foresight to plan this event on the beach so that the desserts could simply wade into the water to wash up after the humiliation.

with much time to observe any character development spurred by her stay at camp, i think i can safely say uh, it didn't. but she had fun and that was the most important thing. that and the fact that she didn't pitch a complete hissy fit because she was homesick. can't wait til next year.

organic girl

2008-08-13T15:31:00.004-05:00

this is no longer embedded in my daughter's chest. she is 100% organic materials again, well, excusing the junk she consumes from mickey d's.

the surgery was today and, despite kisu's unfounded sense of dread, it went very well.
as per usual, pooka whined incessantly about being hungry. man, i'm glad we don't have any more days of npo.

we had to go to the clinic before surgery and we played some games on the wall-mounted monitors. we also broke out our new dice game. the 'go anywhere' game has gone everywhere with us and had yet to be played. although it's not terribly exciting, expecially with only three players, it does make a very good diversion and travels very well, obviously. pooka then made up her own game, the money game. depending on the roll of the dice we would earn chips which we could then use to buy items from her. she didn't have anything to sell, so ransacked kisu's backpack and tried to sell him his own bottle of pop. i said that i would like to use my chips to buy minutes of no whining, but pooka wasn't selling any of those.

we finally got to pre-op, where pooka spent the time watching a movie on the laptop. when they wheeled her off to surgery, kisu and i headed for the family waiting room whereupon i promptly searched for some food. kisu has a sweet, although somewhat misguided, tendency to not eat when pooka is not allowed to eat. i, on the other hand, cannot survive that, besides which one of the parents needs to be able to function properly and not be on edge from hunger. when i returned from the food run, kisu was ensconced in the corner playing on the laptop. (thank you children's hospital for the free wi-fi!) i read and, predictably, took a nap, waking just in time for the notice that pooka was in recovery.

we arrived just as she did and were relieved to see that she was our beloved pooka: demanding food.

the surgeon gave us the port, for what purpose i have no idea. elena suggested using it for a bookmark, but um, eww. i don't think the library would particularly appreciate that. i don't think the surgeon sanitized the thing.

in a few days, we'll find out the results of the immunoglobulin tests which will tell us two things: one, we can discontinue the bactrim and two, she can start catching up on her immunizations, which will make her school happy.

we made it! wahoo!

narcissistic much?

2008-08-01T14:59:00.001-05:00

weight loss is a common topic in our office. from the aging art director who suddenly realized he'd been growing rounder and rounder, to the copywriter who has struggled with her weight all her life, to the other people who just want to stay fit, we frequently discuss eating habits, exercise plans, and the frustration of it all. the writer has not seen much progress, but the art director has shed some 50 pounds in roughly the last 9 months.

a woman on another floor actually went on a hospital-supervised shake-only diet. this was a pretty radical plan that produced a striking result. she lost a little more than 100 pounds, i believe, and literally looked like a different person. it may have been even more pronounced in my eyes because it happened while i was on maternity leave.

i couldn't stick to a shake-only plan while trying to provide normal/proper nutrition for my family, and by the same token, my eating/exercising schedule wouldn't necessarily work for other people. however, i was proud to hear that she marveled at my dedication to losing weight and my ability to maintain what i have done so far.

it's nice to have my hard work appreciated. i marvel at myself sometimes, and i like to hear people comment on my dedication when i'm heading to the gym as they're heading to a fast food restaurant. it's motivating and rewarding all at the same time. and not in a 'holier-than-thou' way.

kisu is especially appreciative of what i've accomplished, although possibly not as much as i am myself. like my idol, the divine miss m, i will randomly pop up and declare, "i look good!"

this is turning into a joke around the house. one night kisu and pooka were waiting for me and when they discovered that i was in the bathroom, kisu said that i was flexing in front of the mirror. in that particular instance it was not true, but it was darn close and i couldn't help but laugh which made him think that it was true.

i like to flex my muscles. i like to see my muscles in the mirror. i admit i even... fondle my muscles--just the arms, though!

i can't help it. i am in the best shape of my life (barring the year prior to earning my black belt--and i've had 2! kids since then) and i love the way it feels. i even find ways to sneak in exercise when we're out and about, like hoisting bug onto my shoulders and walking on my tiptoes. kisu has started calling me the fitness nazi. i don't think that applies, though, if you're only pushing yourself.

anyway, i don't care what he calls me, i am going to continue working. i don't consider a trip to the gym obligatory, i consider it a privilege and an enjoyable way to spend an hour. even if i have to put up with some old curmudgeons while i'm there.

tough nut to crack

2008-07-31T14:50:00.004-05:00

i have a peculiar bruise on my arm received when i was carrying a giant box of shelves into the house. located in the middle of my forearm, it bears an uncanny resemblance to a cross. it's actually kind of cool, except that it's upside-down to me.

it is extremely noticeable, though, since it is quite a deep bruise and i am pretty pale. kisu lamented that people might think that he abuses me (as if i couldn't kick his butt), but that would be a strange kind of abuse: beaten with a crucifix.

i kind of like it, though, because it's a temporary tattoo, and it draws attention to my sleekly muscled arms. besides, bearing bruises (received for innocent reasons) is an indicator of toughness (or clumsiness, but you know, let's focus on the positive, okay?)

HA!

ce kids' day

2008-07-29T23:26:00.000-05:00

it ended up being a fun day, albeit a little warm.

i was worried that the older kids would be bored, but i wanted chris to see what an artist might be able to do at an ad agency. that didn't exactly work out as planned, but he said he had a good time regardless.

bug had a blast running around and charming everyone. pooka had fun in the bounce house and the inflatable slide. i think they all enjoyed making their art projects. (unfortunately, they didn't win their age brackets.) and my coworkers gracefully tolerated their presence: covering the floor with their art in progress, teen-age bickering, and toddler screeching.

3 is a (black) magic number

2008-07-29T22:19:00.001-05:00

there's some weird voodoo going on between work and birds. 2 years ago, i hit a bird coming off the freeway and although i didn't kill it, it left a macabrely beautiful imprint on my bumper. almost as if it had been coated in fairy dust.

last month, there was this mournful incident.

this morning, there was this:

aren't birds supposed to get out of the way? so often they're weaving in and out of traffic, playing chicken as it were, only to swoop away at the last second. clearly birds have a precise, inherent sense of timing and space that enables them to survive this game. well, this guy missed my windshield, but obviously didn't factor in my roof rack. when we found him, he had one wing crooked over the bar while the rest of his body had passed under it. oops.

this happened on the off-ramp of the freeway and as we came to the red light at the end of the ramp, other vehicles were pointing at us, trying to draw our attention to the fact that we had a dead creature on our roof. as if we didn't notice the horrific thump it made on impact!

and of course this had to happen when i had a carful of witnesses, too. the teenagers were somewhat shocked and expressed (in my opinion, fake) disgust. fortunately, pooka seemed unfazed and bug was oblivious.

when we got to work, chris retrieved a stick and pushed the bird onto the ground, and then i aske done of the building maintenance men to dispose of it. i figured they would have gloves and shovels and other appropriate tools. when we returned to the truck later in the day, all that was left was some small white feathers.

well, at least i got blog fodder out of it.

fun with flickr

2008-07-25T08:10:00.002-05:00

from spell with flickr. fun things you can find when you are killing time with your kid at work.

E I E I O

2008-07-23T09:00:00.000-05:00

what a lovely evening. sitting at the table, reading and munching on roasted vegetables freshly picked from my garden. a little olive oil, a little lemon-tinged herb blend. yummy.

i am really getting into this gardening thing. some evenings i go out and spend 15 minutes pulling weeds, admiring the greens, checking the status of the fruit, decompressing. aside from the therapeutic aspect of having a garden, you can't beat the taste of fresh picked veggies.

oh. the. sweet. peas!

i wish we'd done this years ago, but then again we needed the ~~grunt labor~~ expertise of dad and tina to get us started. thanks, guys!

i look forward to having a garden every year now, and would like to try to vary the crops a bit. the corn failed last year, and so far the peppers are not doing much, but the pickles are starting to hit, and the zucchini has been prolific. (plus we have a rogue carrot from last year amongst the squash plants.) it'll be fun to see what we can grow that the kids will actually eat.

the zucchini has been prolific, but until recently, i hadn't gotten any. the first one went to adrian, the next 2 to tina, another to our friend kim (for picking up the girls from day care and saving us a whopping late fee and possible expulsion). i anticipate a bumper crop and so am looking for recipes and (sneaky) ways to use them. pam mentioned that she has nana's recipes for zucchini bread and bread & butter pickles, so i am looking forward to continuing a delicious tradition, as soon as she finds the recipes. i also found a recipe for zucchini-lemon cake which i intend to take to the day care picnic. all the parents will love that i snuck veggies into their kids' bellies in the guise of a frosted treat.

family phobia match game

2008-07-18T08:57:00.014-05:00

i'm just the kind of geek who thinks it's interesting to know the names of different phobias. there are some really wacky fears out there. some are so specific you wonder why they bothered to name them (auroraphobia: fear of the Northern Lights). some are so benign it's hard not to puzzle over the reason behind it. whatever would cause you to be afraid of string (linonophobic)?

but that's just it, isn't it? phobias are irrational fears so there isn't always a reason behind them. although some people have some very strong fears that arise in a legitimate way. someone who was bitten as a child by a snake could understandably grow up to be ophidophobic. then again, they could grow up to be steve irwin. someone who has many bad experiences may end up panphobic like monk, paralyzed by so many fears that it's nigh impossible to live a regular existence.

but sometimes, you can have a little fun with phobias. i've compiled a short list of some mostly benign phobias below. see if you can match (and identify) the fear with the family member:

belonephobia	pooka
vestiphobia	danica
bromidrophobia	me
kainophobia	kisu
coprastasaphobia	gamma
homilophobia	pam
counterphobia	bug

here's a gratuitous pooka photo to prevent you from peeking at the answers:

belonephobia (needles) pam; vestiphobia (clothes) gamma; bromidrophobia (body smells) danica; kainophobia (new things) pooka; coprastasaphobia (constipation) me; homilophobia (hearing sermons) kisu; the last one is a trick question because obviously bug is not afraid of anything. but for the record counterphobia is the preference of a phobic for fearful situations.

i must be richard roeper

2008-07-17T12:31:00.005-05:00

uncharacteristically, kisu and i have been to see several movies in the last few weeks. real movies, like, in the theater and stuff.

this is due mainly to visiting kevin and marianne and taking advantage of the fact that kari is confined to the house (due to recently giving birth). late night shows mean all she has to do is make sure the house doesn't burn down while all the munchkins are sleeping in it.

of course, late night shows also mean that we may fall asleep while watching, but whatever: "we're at the movies!"

first we went to see wanted. marianne and i both nodded off here and there. for me, the biggest gap occurred in the climactic chase/gunfight scene. you know, constant action and gunfire sometimes leads to sensory overload and the brain just says, "night-night." i did wake up for the big reveal at the end of the action, though, and managed to follow the movie to its eventual conclusion.

the next weekend, we split into boys vs. girls. i really didn't have that much interest in seeing hellboy 2. marianne and i went to see wall-e, even though i nearly decided in favor of staying home and going to bed. (kisu and pooka had a date to see it the next day, so i figured if i wanted to catch it i had to now.) it was good, but not what i had expected, although i can't even say what i did expect, given that the trailers were incredibly vague. i certainly expected more dialogue, that's safe to say. i was left wondering whether pooka would really enjoy the movie and whether she would get the messages embedded in it.

as we found out the next day, she did enjoy it, although i didn't hear any further commentary from her regarding it, instead she talked about how much she enjoyed going to lunch afterwards.

so if you're not keeping score at home, that's 2 for me and 3 for kisu. i evened up the tally wednesday when i took pooka to see (finally!) kung fu panda after the clinic visit. we had a good time, despite the fact that she spent a good portion of the show crushing my lap with her never-ending fidgeting. there were a lot of cliched asian aphorisms. i suppose they were knew to the kids, but they came off a bit trite to those of us who remember the original 'wax-on/wax-off' master. overall, however, it was a very good movie. not one that will be a merchandising darling, but one i definitely see including in our home collection, if only so that we can repeatedly hear, "skadoosh." the overarching moral of the story was valuable, too. i only hope that kids actually register it.

now the big attraction is coming up: dark knight. right now kisu and i are trying to figure out who needs to be bamboozled into babysitting so that we can get to the show this weekend.....

camp quality drop-off

2008-07-16T21:45:00.000-05:00

i suppose i should tell you about dropping pooka off at camp before i tell you about picking her up. that would be reasonable.

i was a little nervous about how she would handle it, because she maintained for so long that she wasn't going to go. 3 weeks ago when jane (her companion) sent her an email, she started to get excited, although she didn't really want to admit that to us.

the night before, she did NOT sleep well. she tossed and turned, kicked, cried out, "No, " and in general expressed a lot of anxiety in her sleep. this is according to my niece who had the distinct misfortune of trying to sleep next to her. being two floors above, we heard none of this and ~~slumbered blissfully~~ tossed and turned anyway since we were in someone else's bed (which used to be our bed, but that's beside the point).

i didn't realize quite how nervous kisu was to be dropping off his first-born child into the arms of strangers in the wilderness where they had no access to communication devices. well, the kids didn't anyway. (boy are we spoiled by cell phones, or what?) i was mainly worried about how she would adjust; i knew she would be taken care of.

when we arrived at the campgrounds, jane was thrilled to meet us and started to jump right into getting to know pooka. pooka, typically, was a bit more reserved and that demeanor was augmented by the fact that she had just woken up from her 'on-the-road' nap.

she quickly warmed up, however, and we stayed awhile to watch her get acclimated to the surroundings and to cement her transition to the substitute parent. they tackled a few crafts and then we all went to get lunch. during lunch we relayed some insights to pooka and jane shared some of her background. once that was done, jane said that they were going to attempt the scavenger hunt and we took that as our exit cue. pooka cheerfully said, "ok. bye," and gave us hugs and kisses before scampering off after her new friends.

wow, that was easy.

are you afraid of the dark?

2008-07-10T12:27:00.000-05:00

always good when a culture can laugh at itself. i sure did.

sadness

2008-07-09T11:29:00.006-05:00

as i was walking to the main building
this morning to donate blood,
i came across this in the parking lot:

the covered parking area for the chief officers is a haven for birds of all kinds, despite being equipped with netting and annoying chirping boxes designed to keep them away. (it is also the haven for the obstinate people who refuse to quit smoking and continue to pollute us all with their second-hand cancer air. /rant)

anyway, there obviously was a nest above that spot and the hatchling sadly fell from it. it's too bad the amer-avian red cross couldn't get to it in time, although a blood transfusion probably wasn't the right medicine for its problems.

however, by the time i returned an hour later, it had been smushed by a motorcycle.

channel your energy

2008-07-08T10:25:00.004-05:00

as i was leaving the gym today i was struck by the senseless waste of people using indoor cardio equipment. all those miles logged on treadmills and elliptical machines; all those flights racked up on stepping machines.

i'm not saying that exercise is a futile endeavor, of course i'm an advocate for being healthy. and it would be hypocritical of me to heap shame upon people who hide indoors instead of enjoying the beauty and the natural challenge of the terrain outside the gym walls.

my despair comes from thinking of the oodles of joules just seeping out into the ether. think about it: people are at the gym to burn calories, right? what are calories but units of energy!

why doesn't someone engineer equipment to harness that mass of energy? during its busy hours, the gym could collect kilowatt hours in a battery and release it during its less busy hours. the battery could power the facility itself.

power from the people!

****
upon further research, this idea isn't really feasible, much to my chagrin. the amount of energy produced wouldn't be enough to run the facility, although it could light up a bulb (CFL, of course) for a few minutes.

1 kilowatt hour = 8,598,452 calories (or roughly 8,598,152 more calories than i burn on a 2 mile run.) the equivalent of 2,456 pounds. that's weight loss on a slightly larger scale (thank God) than my paradigm. my efforts would be closer to producing 1 kilowatt second per week.

eh, in the words of emily litella: "neeeeever mind."

a butt-load of stories

2008-07-06T21:17:00.004-05:00

this weekend was all about the derriere, the hiney, the tuchus.

bug likes to wrestle with pooka. she particular likes to throw herself up against her sister. she has developed a new move recently, though: the dupah drop. pooka was lying on the floor and bug came up to her, turned around, and sat squarely on her face. then stood up and did it again. and again. pooka was not happy, but kisu and i were laughing hysterically.

while at kevin and marianne's (to celebrate the birth of their grandchild(!)), bug got hold of a crock pot that was sitting in the corner. she discovered that if she dropped the (plastic) lid on the hardwood floor, it would make a really cool sound and spin for awhile. she also discovered that she could sit comfortably on the pot itself. we're calling this technique crock-potty-training.

as i've maybe said before, pooka usually has a pretty good grasp on what language is inappropriate for her to use, even though we've slipped up here and there and let her hear some not so nice stuff. this weekend, she slipped up. i don't know if she just learned this phrase or if she just decided to throw it out there. she and kisu were horsing around in the pool, having a pretend water war with a rival gang (the dirty philadelphias--don't ask me, i don't know where that came from) and when kisu said he was going to defect because she wasn't being nice to him, she told him frankly: "if you go to the dirty philadelphias, i'm gonna kick your ass."

wha????? where did that come from? i let kisu handle the reprimand on that one, but apparently he didn't do it strongly enough, because later that night she pulled it out again. this time momma got involved. man, i sure hope she doesn't practice her new vocabulary on the people at camp quality this week.

spoiling for a fight

2008-07-02T21:08:00.000-05:00

this afternoon was stressful. i got held up quite late at work finishing a project and was obsessing about being late to pick up the girls. ultimately, that resulted in my not doing the work properly.

i was angry and that tends to make me drive more aggressively, but i did nothing to deserve others' rage.

i was zooming down the freeway, which provided plenty of opportunities to zig and zag, and as i approached a green jeep, i noticed the driver had his hand out the window. as i pulled even he flipped me off. i think it was for me, there wasn't anyone else around, really, but i don't know why. passing him was the first interaction i'd had with him. it's not like we had been dodging each other along the road. i didn't cut him off, i didn't blow his doors off. i'm stumped.

his hand being out already makes me think either a) he thought i was someone else--there are a LOT of silver escapes on the road, or b) he was just waiting for anyone to flip off.

a little later down the road, he pulled up and passed me along my left. as he did so, he gave me the look--you know the one--the one that says, "why did they allow you behind a wheel? you blithering idiot, you're barely capable of breathing on your own."

was i mistaken or did his look change to: "oh, that's not who i thought it was."

no, apparently it did not because even later, i passed him as he was exiting and he gave me the look again. "how dare i pass him twice?!"

i honestly have no idea what i could have done to offend this guy. an amusing thought is that he just gets mad at people who speed (ok, i do have a lead foot, plus i was racing to pick up the girls, don't forget), but that is a delightfully ironic agenda for him considering he has a bumper sticker that reads: HAUL ASS.

daredevil

2008-06-29T07:54:00.000-05:00

bug is fearless. she will tackle any challenge, anytime. she mastered the stairs in one afternoon, all 12 steps. then she moved on to scaling the ledge that borders the bottom half of those stairs.

she loves to climb chairs, even if they rock.
she scurries atop the picnic table in about 1.25 seconds.
she climbed pooka's big girl bike and balanced on it for several minutes, although much of that time was spent straddling the center bar (youch! thank goodness for the padded comfort of diapers). she even was dangling off the handlebars at one point.pooka usually keeps her door closed to prevent a bug invasion, primarily to protect her toys and other posessions, but here is why i want bug kept out of pooka's room:she did this all by herself and waaaay faster than i would have thought possible.

this kid is scary, and getting more frightening by the day.

tall bed

2008-06-28T21:15:00.000-05:00

awesome!

the cavity underneath is a cave, a fort, a spaceship. kids have to swing into it by handing from the bed frame, adults must press their palm to the column like a biometric security panel.
pooka loves her new bed and it, and it's extra storage, has encouraged her to keep her room a little tidier.

when i was little we didn't have anything like this, unless it was an actual set of bunk beds (which we didn't personally experience until i was in 6th grade). this is much more similar to the sleeping arrangements i saw at college, and that makes me a little nervous. she's so grown up already, i don't need visions of post-secondary education being so clear so soon.

she enjoys working at her desk and will do projects and now homework willingly, but if she asks for a mini-fridge we're going back to a baby bed.

gas vs. late fee

2008-06-27T14:45:00.008-05:00

despite kisu's initial hesitation to try carpooling, he is getting into it. i think he enjoys not having to drive, and not having to drive his car in particular. i am delighted that we get the opportunity to save some money and emissions, but i don't know if it's really working out in our best interest.

after campaigning ardently for it, claiming that it would provide us guaranteed time to communicate as adults and as husband/wife, now i feel pressure to have a topic to discuss.

wednesday morning, it almost backfired horribly. we had a disagreement before leaving the house and the drive was a little more frosty than our so far typically quiet rides. but in the end it was good, because neither one of us wanted to spend the 40 minute ride stewing; we were encouraged to clear the air and by the time i dropped him off at work, we were resolved.

we are still tweaking the timing of our departures. morning has been great, but the afternoon is causing problems. either i don't leave soon enough, he doesn't leave soon enough, or we do but get caught in traffic, storms, or terrible detours. sheesh. we may be saving gas money, but we're paying it back out in late fees. $1/minute/kid. being 10 minutes late costs us $20!! i think we're down about $50 bucks this week already. we 'pooled 4 times this week and were late to pick up the girls 3 times (the fourth time granny picked them up, so we were late getting them but didn't have to pay a fine.)

there's only so much we can do to try to improve. i'm regularly leaving work early to make it to kisu by his official quitting time, and the freeway is under construction, which causes unavoidable delays. fortunately, that work is scheduled to be done by the holiday next weekend. maybe after that clears up, we can start making good time. i'm sure the teachers would love to be able to leave work on time, too.

after seeing gas prices jump AGAIN today to $4.25, i'm willing to keep trying to make the ride share work.

in these troubled times

2008-06-24T09:46:00.010-05:00

the mississippi is flooding,

california suddenly has hundreds of wildfires.

i have a solution:

water puts out fire, everybody happy.

let's get on this, people.

the next steps

2008-06-22T19:12:00.005-05:00

i really missed the gym this weekend.

especially since i screwed up and had two cheat days. i decided to go to the gym tonight, but when i got there i discovered that they had just closed. guess it's been awhile since i used the gym close to my house.

i was all suited up and had the determination to run, though, so i decided to just go around my neighborhood.

i don't usually do that because ~~i don't want people to laugh at my lousy running technique, my labored breathing, my early quitting~~ it's hard to pace myself outside, as i proved in the 5k. but i thought, what the hell, you need to burn some calories.

i started out a little fast, i think, and immediately starting shortening my theoretical route. but i eased up and found my pace and managed to complete the circuit i had originally planned, and then tacked ona bit more for good measure. i was hoping that i had at least done a mile. when i got home, i registered at mapmyrun.com and discovered, to my happy surprise, that i had gone almost 1.5 miles.

night at the drive-out

2008-06-21T23:19:00.000-05:00

pooka had a friend stay for a sleepover tonight. i've been trying to get it scheduled for quite a while, since i owe olivia's mom for 2 nights that pooka stayed at her house.

it was going to be brilliant. we were going to finally experience the drive-in theater that opened in our area about 5 years ago. i'm not sure why we hadn't tried it before this point. it is a pretty good deal. $9 for an adult, but you get 2 movies.

tonight we were going to see kung fu panda and iron man. 3 weeks ago i promised pooka we'd take her, and then i realized that it hadn't opened yet. once it did open, we didn't have a chance to take her, so this was a golden opportunity. plus, i haven't seen iron man, although kisu has (and wouldn't mind seeing it again). perfect. the kiddie movie first and then the kiddies fall asleep so the adults can watch the older movie. not so old that they couldn't watch it if they managed to stay awake (yeah, right, i had my doubts about whether i would still be awake.)

at 830, wearing pajamas and slippers and carrying their blankies and stuffed animals, we loaded the 3 girls into the truck. in back i had packed a bag full of munchies: chocolate covered raisins, fish crackers, grapes, drinks, and pooka's jellybeans specially selected for this event.

off we went, ready to relive a night from my childhood. this was to be kisu's first time ever at a drive-in, so that was exciting, too.

when we pulled in, however, excitement came to a crashing halt. the marquis claimed that the lineup had changed. we pulled around to receive our 'rules and regulations' sheet and confirmed that the sign was right. we promptly pulled right out again.

it wasn't that the movies had completely changed. i think that would have been less frustrating. they had switched them around. kung fu panda was still showing, but now as the follow up to love guru. that's right, a pg-13 film first and then they showed the pg film. makes absolute sense, no? i was incensed. not only for me, but for pooka: her disappointment, coupled with her frustration, which equalled mine, and the wasted gas (20 mile round trip!); the only solution was to go for ice cream. so we did--bedtime be damned.

where'd you go?

2008-06-20T07:31:00.005-05:00

i haven't had much time to post lately. most of my free time has been spent watching tutorials for some new software. i need to learn this new software to bring the family tree website into the 21st century. i'm way stoked to get my hands on this stuff and do some cool things with the site. now all i have to do is wait until noel makes it accessible.

pooka's recital last week was a hit. i didn't realize what a huge production it was going to be. 3 acts, 2 hours, and hundreds of dancers. yikes. i'd like to post some pictures, but they wouldn't let us use a camera. we'll have to buy the dvd from the school now.

there were some really good numbers, including the finale, which was a pretty good take on the zombie routine "rama lama bang bang" from season 2 of so you think you can dance. one of the other numbers used the song "night of the dancing flame," which was the music for my all-time favorite sytycd routine, so of course after we got home kisu and i jumped on youtube and rewatched a bunch of clips from sytycd.

don't ask me how pooka did, because i didn't see her number. bug was rapt for the first 6 routines of the act, but by the time we got to pooka (#9? of 13?), she was starting to get restless. i spent the rest of the act wrestling with her and trying to keep her from pulling the hair of the woman in front of us. during intermission we strapped bug into her infant carrier, but she didn't calm down (i.e. fall asleep) until the third act. so the little glimpses i got of pooka showed her looking around confused as to her next move. i'm disappointed that comprised the entirety of my perception. i'm sure if i had seen the whole thing she would have shown me that she really did know what she was doing. right?

all of pooka's grandparents, including bubbie and zaydie, made it to the show, so they came back to our house for the 'afterglow'. we sat down with some coffee and cake. i also showed off my skydiving video. (my mother refused to watch it for some reason....) pooka was wired for awhile, but once she went to bed, she crashed HARD.

ballet universe

2008-06-12T10:43:00.000-05:00

for the longest time pooka has declared that she wants to be a ballerina when she grows up. eventually, she'll realize that she's more cut out to be ~~supreme ruler of the galaxy~~ president. in the meantime, she takes ballet class courtesy of granny. granny found the studio, pays the bill, and taxis her to and from class.

since i have no interaction with the process, it's like a completely different world that she inhabits. i have no idea what goes on there. (well, i know what happens at a dance school. i myself took ballet for a brief 8 months as a child.) kisu went to a recent rehearsal, but i have never even been to the studio.

it's a bit frightening to be so ignorant of what is, really, a fairly large part of her life. it's her favorite activity. i don't know her teachers, her friends, anything about how she perceives her own ability. (she doesn't talk much about it--teenager already.) i don't worry about her because i know that granny is there, but it's awkward having that void in my picture of her life. at her age, i should still be all about the details of her activities and thoughts. but then again, she has always been a precocious child. i just don't want to get too comfortable with her having a 'secret' from me.

i don't know if she's any good. she could be the next...um, whoever's hot in ballet right now, or she could be a total clutz. one of those kids who staggers around stage, completely oblivious to the rhythm of the music or the steps of the routine they've been practicing for 6 months. i fervently hope that she at least holds herself together and makes a decent showing. i hope that she feels that she does well. that's more important than how i think she performs.

i asked her if she's ready and she said no. when will she be ready? according to her, "saturday." i don't know if she was intentionally naming a day AFTER the recital, or if that was some arbitrary day she chose. i thought it was pretty amusing, though. i don't want her to be paralyzed with stage fright. given her personality, i don't think that's likely, but she's never been on a stage this big before.

one way or another, i am going to be thoroughly surprised by what i see at friday's recital. (by the way, who schedules a dance recital--or any physical enterprise for that matter--on friday the 13th?)